01726nas a2200169   4500000000100000008004100001100001600042700002400058700001900082700001400101245012300115250001500238300001200253490000700265520123800272020004601510       2011                            d1 aAbimbola S.1 aMartiniuk Alexandra1 aAnderson Craig1 aHackett M00aThe influence of design and definition on the proportion of general epilepsy cohorts with remission and intractability  a2011/05/25  a204-2120 v363 a<p>
Remission while on anti-epileptic drug (AED) therapy and remission off AED are the only prognostic criteria defined by the International League against Epilepsy (ILAE), defining remission as 5 seizure-free years. Prognosis studies in epilepsy have investigated other prognostic categories using different designs and definitions. This systematic review explores factors that explain discrepancies in the proportion of patients reported with commonly studied prognostic categories in general epilepsy cohorts. Thirty publications (reporting 37 studies) were included. The outcome categories were classified as immediate remission (5 studies), remission off medication (7 studies), remission on or off medication (15 studies), intractability (9 studies) and no remission after relapse (1 study). The findings show the importance of qualifying estimates specifically by how they were defined in each study, study design, setting and patient population as these have implications for patient management and counselling. The ILAE should define the outcome measures and terminology to which researchers should be required to adhere in subsequent updates of their guidelines on research related to remission and intractability.
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