Cognitive functioning and prevalence of seizures among older persons in Uganda: A hospital-based, cross-sectional study

There is limited data on the prevalence of seizures and dementia among older persons in Uganda. We evaluated cognitive functioning, and the prevalence and factors associated with seizures among older persons attending an outpatient medical clinic in Uganda. We randomly selected older adults (60 years and above) attending Kiruddu National Referral Hospital medical outpatient clinics between October 2020 and March 2021. We excluded individuals with a history of head injury, brain tumors, mental retardation, co-morbidity with HIV and patients who have had recent brain surgery. Cognitive functioning was assessed using the Identification for Dementia in Elderly Africans (IDEA) tool. We enrolled 407 participants, with a median (inter-quartile range) age of 67 (64–73) years. Majority were female (n = 292, 71.7%). The prevalence of seizure was 1.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.7–3.3). All 6 participants reported generalized tonic-clonic seizure type. Self-reported seizure was associated with being female (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR]: 0.79, 95%CI: 0. 67–0.93, P = .02) and residing in Mukono district (aPR: 17.26, 95%CI: 1.64–181.55, P = .018). Overall, 114 (28.1%) participants had cognitive deficit; 9 (2.2%) dementia and 105 (25.9%) impaired cognition. Cognitive deficit was independently associated with female gender (aPR: 0.61, 95%CI: 0.44–0.85, P = .003), formal employment (aPR: 0.53, 95%CI: 0.35–0.81, P = .003), age 70–74 (aPR: 1.69, 95%CI: 1.00–2.86, P = .049), and ≥ 75 years (aPR: 2.81, 95%CI: 1.71–4.61, P = .001). Prevalence of seizures among participants with cognitive deficit was 5.3% (6/114). Among older persons attending a medical clinic in Uganda, almost one-third had cognitive deficit with seizure prevalence being higher among these individuals.