Prevalence and predictors of seizure in patients with Alzheimer’s disease at a tertiary care center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

• Published in: Tropical journal of pharmaceutical research 2021-11, Vol.20 (11), p.2381-2386
• Main Authors: Alessa, Mohammed, Alsugheir, Shaden, Almutairi, Nouf, Alqahtani, Abdulaziz, Alhumaid, Lina, Alqahtani, Rahaf, Ahmed, Mohamed Eldigire
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1596-5996; 1596-9827
• DOI: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i11.21

Purpose: To assess the prevalence and predictors of seizures in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) at a Saudi tertiary hospital.Methods: A retrospective, matched case-control study was conducted using the electronic medical records of patients with AD who had an unprovoked seizure, from October 2015 to May 2018.Results: Nineteen cases and 195 controls were identified. Statistically significant risk factors for an unprovoked seizure in patients diagnosed with AD were hypertension (p = 0.001), autoimmune disease, stroke and TIA (p = 0.001). The multivariate logistic regression analysis identified hypertension (OR = 2.89; p = 0.009) and autoimmune disease (OR = 19.6; p = 0.045) as predictors of unprovoked seizure in AD patients.Conclusion: The occurrence of unprovoked seizures is more likely in severe cases of AD. In addition, the risk of seizure in patients with AD increases with two co-morbid conditions, hypertension, and autoimmune disease. However, further studies are required to determine the underlying mechanism of the association between the two risk factors and AD.