Prevalence of idiopathic epilepsy by geographical region

The figure shows the age-standardized prevalence of idiopathic epilepsy per 100,000 population for both sexes by geographical region in 2016. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) collaborators undertook a systematic analysis of epidemiological data published between 2011 and 2016 to determine the global and country-level prevalence of epilepsy between 1990 and 2016.¹ As can be seen from the map, high prevalence of idiopathic epilepsy was observed in eastern, western, and southern sub-Saharan Africa, central Asia, Andean Latin America, and southeast Asia.¹ However, limitations of the study included a lack of data for numerous countries.¹