{
  "abstract": "Background In the United Kingdom epilepsy is associated with area-level socioeconomic deprivation; the highest rates are in the most deprived areas. No previous UK studies examine the association of individual-level socioeconomic factors with epilepsy incidence at a population level. We aim to explore this association in Wales using census data.Methods This population-based cohort study included 2.9 million individuals without prevalent epilepsy, alive and registered with a Welsh GP on the 2011 census (27/03/2011). Analyses were conducted within the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Databank, using anonymised, linked, coded medical data from primary and secondary care, death records, census and area-level data. Individual-level factors at the study baseline were from Office of National Statistics census data (household-deprivation score and occupation-based socioeconomic position based on National Statistics Socio-economic Classification). Censoring occurred at: incident epilepsy diagnosis, death, leaving Wales, or study endpoint (27/3/2024).Results 83% of the population had linked census data; 2.4 million individuals contributed 27.8 million-years with 17,455 incident epilepsy cases. Incidence rates showed a graded increase in incident epilepsy rates with increasing household-deprivation, the highest rates in the most deprived groups; Incidence rate ratio (IRR)=2.93(95%CI:2.47–3.48) compared to the least deprived. Rates of incident epilepsy were greater in those from lower compared to higher socioeconomic positions (Class 8 versus Class 1 IRR=2.62(95%CI:2.40–2.86)) and those with no qualifications, versus degree-level qualifications (IRR=2.33(95%CI:2.22–2.44)).Conclusion We found evidence of socioeconomic inequalities in incident epilepsy in Wales according to all measures of household-level deprivation and individual-level socioeconomic factors used in this study. We wish to understand which types of epilepsy show the greatest inequalities and the preventable factors mediating these associations.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Kathryn J Bush"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Swansea University Medical School, Swansea University, Swansea, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Beata Fonferko-Shadrach"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Swansea University Medical School, Swansea University, Swansea, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Huw Strafford"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Rhys H Thomas"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Andrew Kingston"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Swansea University Medical School, Swansea University, Swansea, UK",
        "Neurology Department, Swansea Bay University Health Board, Morriston Hospital, Swansea, UK"
      ],
      "name": "William Owen Pickrell"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK"
      ],
      "name": "Sheena E Ramsay"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P16-1 Determining the association between individual-level socioeconomic factors and incident epilepsy: a welsh population cohort study of 2.9 million people",
  "uid": "8ba1635c-52be-57df-bbb1-b47a861b72e9"
}