Table 1 Comparison of the general information and clinical characteristics of elder patients with and without comorbidities
|  | Patients without comorbidity | Patients with comorbidities | Overall | χ2/ t | v | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n (%) / Mean ± SD | n (%) / Mean ± SD | n (%) / Mean ± SD | |||||
General information | Sex | ||||||
Female | 6 (20.7%) | 46 (36.8%) | 52 (33.8%) | 2.73 | 1 | 0.098 | |
Male | 23 (79.3%) | 79 (63.2%) | 102 (66.2%) | ||||
Age (years) | 70.76 ± 5.75 | 71.54 ± 6.55 | 71.40 ± 6.40 | -0.59 | 152 | 0.553 | |
Education | |||||||
 Illiteracy | 3 (10.3%) | 27 (21.6%) | 30 (19.5%) | Fisher's exact test | 0.443 | ||
 Primary school | 11 (37.9%) | 37 (29.6%) | 48 (31.2%) | ||||
 Junior high school | 8 (27.6%) | 41 (32.8%) | 49 (31.8%) | ||||
 Senior high school | 2 (6.9%) | 8 (6.4%) | 10 (6.5%) | ||||
 University | 5 (17.2%) | 12 (9.6%) | 17 (11.0%) | ||||
Residence | |||||||
 Rural areas | 9 (31.0%) | 49 (39.2%) | 58 (37.7%) | 0.668 | 1 | 0.414 | |
 Towns and cities | 20 (69.0%) | 76 (60.8%) | 96 (62.3%) | ||||
Characteristics of epilepsy | Age of onset | 66.17 ± 5.53 | 67.54 ± 6.40 | 67.28 ± 6.25 | -1.06 | 152 | 0.290 |
Age at diagnosis | 67.00 ± 5.47 | 68.20 ± 6.43 | 67.98 ± 6.27 | -0.93 | 152 | 0.354 | |
Duration before diagnosis (months) | 9.88 ± 11.76 | 7.95 ± 7.61 | 8.31 ± 8.53 | 1.10 | 152 | 0.274 | |
Duration of disease (years) | 4.59 ± 3.53 | 4.00 ± 3.36 | 4.11 ± 3.39 | 0.83 | 152 | 0.406 | |
Seizure frequency before diagnosis (times/month) | 0.68 ± 0.90 | 0.87 ± 1.22 | 0.84 ± 1.17 | -0.81 | 152 | 0.418 | |
Number of seizures before diagnosis | 6.93 ± 7.92 | 5.95 ± 6.16 | 6.14 ± 6.51 | 0.73 | 152 | 0.467 | |
Seizure type | |||||||
 Unknown | 6 (20.7%) | 11 (8.8%) | 17 (11.0%) | Fisher's exact test | 0.029* | ||
 Generalized | 4 (13.8%) | 7 (5.6%) | 11 (7.1%) | ||||
 Focal | 19 (65.5%) | 107 (85.6%) | 126 (81.8%) | ||||
Etiology | |||||||
 Unknown | 23 (79.3%) | 25 (20.0%) | 48 (31.2%) | Fisher's exact test |  < 0.001*** | ||
 Metabolic | 0 (0.0%) | 4 (3.2%) | 4 (2.6%) | ||||
 Infectious | 1 (3.4%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (.6%) | ||||
 Structural | 5 (17.2%) | 96 (76.8%) | 101 (65.6%) | ||||
Number of ASM | |||||||
 0 | 1 (3.4%) | 2 (1.6%) | 3 (1.9%) | Fisher's exact test | 0.294 | ||
 1 | 26 (89.7%) | 98 (78.4%) | 124 (80.5%) | ||||
 2 | 2 (6.9%) | 24 (19.2%) | 26 (16.9%) | ||||
 3 | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.8%) | 1 (.6%) | ||||
Neuroimaging | |||||||
 Normal | 16 (55.2%) | 16 (12.8%) | 32 (20.8%) | 28.43 | 2 |  < 0.001*** | |
 Non-specific | 6 (20.7%) | 22 (17.6%) | 28 (18.2%) | ||||
 Abnormal | 7 (24.1%) | 87 (69.6%) | 94 (61.0%) | ||||
EEG | |||||||
 Normal | 9 (31.0%) | 14 (11.2%) | 23 (14.9%) | Fisher's exact test | 0.027* | ||
 Non-epileptiform | 4 (13.8%) | 33 (26.4%) | 37 (24.0%) | ||||
 Epileptiform | 16 (55.2%) | 78 (62.4%) | 94 (61.0%) | ||||