Table 1.

  Characteristics of children with epilepsy and their families according to allocation to antiepilepsy drug (54 children in each group): baseline data. Figures are numbers of children unless stated otherwise

	Phenobarbital	Carbamazepine	Total
Family type:
Nuclear*	33	35	68
Joint†	21	19	40
Residence:
Rural	35	32	67
Urban	19	22	41
Socioeconomic status by monthly income:
Poor	20	33	53
Middle income	32	13	45
Higher income	2	8	10
Maternal literacy:
None	25	19	44
Primary	16	16	32
Secondary school	7	9	16
Higher secondary school	2	3	5
Further education	4	7	11
Sex:
Male	37	24	61
Female	17	30	47
Age at onset (years):
≤1	13	8	21
>1	41	46	87
Median (IQR) (years)	2.4 (1.2-5.3)	3 (1.6-6.3)	3 (1.6-6 )
Age at presentation (years):
≤2	7	5	12
>2-5	23	21	44
>5	24	28	52
Median (IQR) (years)	4.1 (2.6-8.3)	5.1 (3-9)	4.6 (2.8-9)

IQR=interquartile range.

*Parents and children.

†Nuclear family plus wider family living together.