Affiliations: Departments of Medical Statistics, Epidemiology and
Pediatrics, Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, State of
Qatar | Department of Evidence for Population Health Unit,
School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, The University of Manchester,
Manchester, UK | Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, UAE
University, Al Ain, UAE | Department of Pediatrics, Al-Ain Hospital, Ministry of
Health, Al Ain, UAE
Note: [] Correspondence: Prof. Dr. Abdulbari Bener, Weill Cornel Medical
College in Qatar, P.O. Box 3050, Doha – State of Qatar. Tel.: +9744393765;
Fax: +9744393769; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine genetic and environmental
risk factors associated with febrile convulsions among children in the United
Arab Emirates. This study was based on matched case-control studies. Subjects
were collected from the Al-Ain Medical Health District and the Tawam and Al-Ain
Teaching Hospitals of Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Seventy patients
with febrile seizure were identified and were matched to 70 control febrile
patients without seizure with the same age range (3–36 months), who attended
the same hospitals during the same period of time. Mothers of studied patients
and controls were interviewed by telephone. If the mother was not available,
the father was interviewed. Potential risk factors were investigated. The mean
and standard deviation for age were 17.0 ± 7.9 months for
studied patients and 18.0 ± 9.1 months for controls. The
highest frequency of cases with febrile seizure was in children aged 1–2
years. Forty six cases (65.7% had a febrile seizure for the first time and
24 cases (34.3%) had it before (recurrent febrile seizure). The Mantel
Haenszel test revealed that sex, respiratory infection, positive family
history, and birth weight were significant predictors for febrile seizure. It
is recommended to establish health educational programs for mothers regarding
febrile seizures and how to deal with their children during such attacks.
