Browsing by Author "Pandit, L"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Item
    Economic burden of epilepsy in India
    (EPILEPSIA, 2001)
    Purpose: The economic burden due to epilepsy is not adequately examined in developing countries. Cost estimates are very important in health care planning and delivery of services. We have estimated the direct and some of the indirect costs of epilepsy in India.Methods: Epilepsy centers attached to University hospitals in six states of India participated in this study. Data on clinical characteristics. utilization of medical services, and costs were collected in a standardized format.Results: There were 285 patients (mean age, 22.6 + 12.5 years) drawn from six centers in this study. The annual cost of epilepsy per patient was INR 13,755 (USD, 344). The direct cost was INR 3.725 (USD. 93), and the indirect cost was INR 10.031 (USD, 251). Direct cost included medical consultations (INR 329). laboratory services (INR 271). hospitalization charges (INR 316), an cost of travel to clinics (INR 659). The indirect cost included the cost of lost productivity due to seizures, its complications. or attendance to clinics. There are similar to5 million people with epilepsy in India. The economic burden due to epilepsy to the nation is to the tune of INR 68.75 billion (USD, 1.7 billion).Conclusions: The annual economic burden of epilepsy in India is 88.2% of GNP per capita and 0.5% of the GNP.
  • Item
    Epilepsy care in six Indian cities: a multicenter study on management and service
    (JOURNAL OF THE NEUROLOGICAL SCIENCES, 2001)
    Background: Epilepsy care in developing countries is lagging behind than in the developed countries. Precise data on delivery of neurological services for epilepsy is essential to optimize the medical services for epilepsy care with limited resources. Objective: This study was carried out in order to examine the management practices and utilization of various medical services for epilepsy in different parts of India. Methodology: University centers with epilepsy clinics, one each from six states of India, had participated in this study. Demographic data, clinical details, and data on epilepsy care were collected simultaneously on standard proforma. Results: Data on 285 patients with epilepsy (generalized epilepsy: 49.1%, localization-related epilepsy: 49.9%, others: 1%) were included. Mean age of onset of epilepsy was 14.8 + 11.1 years. Mean delay in diagnosis was 1.5 +/- 4 years. Mean distance from place of residence to the consulting neurologist was 70 +/- 82 kin. Medical consultations before referral to epilepsy center included general practitioners (54.1%) and specialists (43.3%). Very few patients received services from clinical psychologist or social worker. Investigations included, EEG (63.2%), CT Scan (36.2%). MRI brain (8.5%) and video EEG (2.1%) were limited to a few. Nearly 75.5% were on monotherapy. Newer Anti-Epileptic Drugs (AEDs) were used only in less than 5% patients. Conclusion: The services for epilepsy are urban-based and there is underutilization of services, general practitioners and specialists. Newer AEDs (although expensive) are gradually emerging in Indian market. Facilities for epilepsy surgery, therapeutic drug monitoring and services of clinical psychologist or medical social workers are limited. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
  • Item
    Evaluation of the established non-MHC multiple sclerosis loci in an Indian population
    (MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, 2011) Pandit, L; Ban, M; Sawcer, S; Singhal, B; Nair, S; Radhakrishnan, K; Shetty, R; Misri, Z; Hegde, S; Bhat, IG
    Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating neurodegenerative disorder with a strong genetic component. Objective: The prevalence of MS in India is low compared with white populations of Northern European descent. Methods: In order to ascertain whether disease susceptibility genes are the same across different populations, we completed the first investigation in the Indian MS population of 15 MS loci outside of the major histocompatibility (MHC) region that were previously identified and validated with MS susceptibility through genome-wide association and replication studies in white populations. Results: In total, 197 Indian patients and 197 unrelated controls were analyzed. The most associated single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) within this study was rs6897932 in the IL7R gene, which showed a strong protective effect in this data set (rs 6897932, OR = 0.5543, 95% CI = 0.37-0.78, p = 0.0009727). Two other SNPs were nominally associated with MS in this dataset, namely CLEC16A rs 12708716 (p = 0.0082, OR = 1.478, 95% CI = 1.106-1.975) and CD226 rs763361 (p = 0.03971, OR = 1.353, CI = 1.014-1.805). For the majority of the remaining SNPs (7/14), the trend for association was in the same direction as in previous studies in the white population. Conclusions: Although the power of this study was limited, our preliminary data suggest that disease susceptibility genes in MS in the Indian population may be similar to those of western populations.
  • Item