Table 1.
Number and age-adjusted* prevalence of active epilepsy, inactive epilepsy, and epilepsy history, by selected characteristics among adults—United States, 2021 National Health Interview Survey.
| Epilepsy Status† | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Active |
Inactive |
No history |
||||||
| Sample No. | Population estimate§ | % (95% CI) | Sample No. | Population estimate§ | % (95% CI) | Sample No. | Population estimate§ | % (95% CI) | |
|
| |||||||||
| Overall Total | 317 | 2,865,000 | 1.1 (1.0–1.3) | 192 | 1,637,000 | 0.6 (0.5–0.8) | 28,953 | 248,495,000 | 98.2 (98.0–98.4) |
| Age group (years) | |||||||||
| 18–44 | 98 | 1,161,000 | 1.0 (0.8–1.3) | 67 | 716,000 | 0.6 (0.5–0.8) | 10,759 | 113,440,000 | 98.4 (98.1–98.6) |
| 45–64 | 126 | 1,061,000 | 1.3 (1.1–1.6) | 75 | 585,000 | 0.7 (0.6–0.9) | 9,383 | 79,478,000 | 98.0 (97.6–98.3) |
| ≥65 | 93 | 643,000 | 1.1 (0.9–1.4) | 50 | 336,000 | 0.6 (0.4–0.8) | 8,811 | 55,578,000 | 98.3 (97.9–98.6) |
| Sex | |||||||||
| Men | 131 | 1,214,000 | 1.0 (0.8–1.2) | 77 | 728,000 | 0.6 (0.5–0.8) | 13,162 | 120,252,000 | 98.4 (98.1–98.7) |
| Women | 186 | 1,651,000 | 1.3 (1.0–1.5) | 115 | 909,000 | 0.7 (0.6–0.8) | 15,789 | 128,227,000 | 98.1 (97.8–98.3) |
| Race/Ethnicity | |||||||||
| Hispanic¶ | 41 | 382,000 | 0.9 (0.6–1.3)§§ | 18 | 168,000 | 0.4 (0.2–0.7)§§ | 4,020 | 42,263,000 | 98.7 (98.2–99.0)§§ |
| Non-Hispanic White | 203 | 1,870,000 | 1.2 (1.0–1.4) | 153 | 1,319,000 | 0.9 (0.7–1.1) | 19,287 | 155,619,000 | 97.9 (97.7–98.2) |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 56 | 473,000 | 1.6 (1.2–2.1) | 11†† | – | – | 3,092 | 29,020,000 | 98.1 (97.6–98.6) |
| Non-Hispanic other | 17 | 140,000 | 0.6 (0.4–1.1) | 10†† | – | – | 2,554 | 21,593,000 | 99.1 (98.6–99.4) |
| Educational level | |||||||||
| <HS or GED | 49 | 448,000 | 1.9 (1.2–2.8)§§ | 24 | 192,000 | 0.8 (0.5–1.2)§§ | 2,459 | 23,152,000 | 97.3 (96.3–98.1)§§ |
| HS or GED | 97 | 1,020,000 | 1.5 (1.1–1.8) | 65 | 671,000 | 0.9 (0.7–1.3) | 7,084 | 69,628,000 | 97.6 (97.1–98.0) |
| ≥some college | 168 | 1,366,000 | 0.8 (0.7–1.0) | 102 | 764,000 | 0.5 (0.4–0.6) | 19,263 | 154,174,000 | 98.7 (98.5–98.8) |
| Did not answer or Unknown | 3†† | – | – | 1†† | – | – | 147†† | – | – |
| Health insurance ** | |||||||||
| Yes | 305 | 2,735,000 | 1.2 (1.0–1.4)§§ | 181 | 1,534,000 | 0.7 (0.6–0.8) | 26,568 | 222,576,000 | 98.1 (97.9–98.3)§§ |
| No | 12†† | – | – | 11†† | – | – | 2,290 | 24,850,000 | 99.2 (98.8–99.5) |
Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval; GED = General Educational Development; HS = high school.
Age-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. projected population, aged ≥18 years, using three age groups: 18–44, 45–64, and ≥65 years. All prevalence estimates are age-adjusted except those for age groups, and overall (crude).
Doctor-diagnosed active epilepsy was defined as having a diagnosis of epilepsy and either taking medication, having had one or more seizures in the past year, or both; and inactive epilepsy was defined as having a diagnosis of epilepsy but not taking medication and having no seizures in the past year.
Number of respondents is unweighted; population estimate (rounded to 1,000 s) and percentage estimates are weighted.
Persons identified as Hispanic might be of any race. The four racial/ethnic categories are mutually exclusive.
Adults were considered uninsured if they did not have private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a state-sponsored health plan, other government programs, or a military health plan (includes TRICARE, VA, and CHAMP-VA) at the time of interview.
Estimates did not meet standards of reliability (i.e., relative standard error ≥30%).
P < 0.05, P-values were obtained using the Wald F test. Non-overlapping 95% confidence intervals were used to assess statistically significant differences between subgroups.