Febrile Convulsion, Its Clinical Characters and Risk Factors in Iranian Children, a Population-Based Study

Abstract

Parichehr Tootoonchi

Objective: Febrile convulsion (FC) is a benign and self-limited disorder in children, most of the time; Despite it is a very worrisome condition for the parents. In this study the prevalence, clinical characters and risk factors of the FC were determined in Iranian children by a population-based study.

Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the prevalence, risk factors and the characteristics of FC were determined in 600 children in 3-month to 6-year-old group attended at health centers located in south of Tehran, capital of Iran, by interviewing to their mothers.

Findings: The prevalence of FC was 6.5% (39 cases). 8.1% of the females and 4.5% of the males had FC. The mean age of cases was 38.6 months with Standard deviation (SD) 15.8 months. The mean age of the first attack of FC was 23.3 months with SD 7.8 months. The mean duration of an attack was between 1-5 minutes. 92% of cases had simple FC. Recurrence of FC was seen in 1/3 of the cases. There was significant statistical relation between FC and the child’s age, birth weight, positive family history of FC or epilepsy in the parents or the siblings, maternal job or education level.

Conclusion: The study has shown that the prevalence of FC was relatively high in the studied population. The FC characters and risk factors were very similar to the results of other studies.

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