One study supported by SHARE aimed to improve our understanding of epilepsy and clarify why some people with epilepsy pass away younger than others.
Researchers compared healthcare usage, like hospital attendance and prescriptions, in a group of individuals who died due to their epilepsy, with a group of people living with epilepsy. Several factors were more common in the group of individuals who died, for example: living in more deprived areas, having at least one accident and emergency visit because of epilepsy, or not being seen by a neurologist in the last year.
SHARE supported the researchers by contacting over 300 people in the SHARE register, to explain the study and connected them with the researchers. The doctors in the research group then studied the healthcare usage patterns for each person.
Comparison studies like this help doctors understand more about how people use the NHS and allows doctors to investigate which groups of people have the highest risk of death. This means that doctors can try to treat these groups of patients more specifically, leading to longer and healthier lives.
Please see more using the full paper link below.
SHARE would like to thank the volunteers who took part in this study.
