Case-control Studies on the Relationship between Onchocerciasis and Epilepsy: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Christoph Kaiser, Sébastien D S Pion and Michel Boussinesq

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2013, vol. 7, issue 3, 1-10

Abstract: Objective: A systematic review and meta-analysis of all available case-control studies on the relationship between onchocerciasis and epilepsy. Because age and level of onchocerciasis endemicity in the area of residence are major determinants for infection, an additional analysis was performed, restricted to studies achieving control of these confounding factors. Data sources: Medical databases, the “African Neurology Database, Institute of Neuroepidemiology and Tropical Neurology, Limoges,” reference lists of relevant articles, commercial search engines, up to May 2012. Methods: We searched for studies examining infection status with Onchocerca volvulus in persons with epilepsy (PWE) and without epilepsy (PWOE) providing data suitable for the calculation of pooled odds ratios (ORp) and/or standardized mean differences (SMD) using random-effects models. Results: Eleven studies providing data of qualitative skin biopsies for diagnosis of onchocerciasis were identified. Combined analysis on the total sample of 876 PWE and 4712 PWOE resulted in an ORp of 2.49 (95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1.61–3.86, p

Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pntd00:0002147

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002147

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