Ketogenic Diet Decreases Emergency Room Visits and Hospitalizations Related to Epilepsy
Table 2
Rates of ED visits and hospitalization in the pre-KD period versus post-KD period.
Before KD
Incidence rate (IR)
After KD
Incidence rate (IR)
IRR
SD (95% CI)
ED visits
66
0.15
42
0.09
0.64
0.197 (0.43–0.94)
Seizure-related
40
0.09
13
0.03
0.33
0.319 (0.17–0.61)
Not seizure-related
26
0.06
29
0.07
1.12
0.27 (0.66–1.89)
Hospitalizations
55
0.12
33
0.07
0.60
0.22 (0.39–0.92)
Seizure-related
40
0.09
14
0.03
0.35
0.311 (0.19–0.64)
Not seizure-related
15
0.03
19
0.04
1.27
0.345 (0.64–2.49)
Hospital days
210
0.47
128
0.29
0.61
0.112 (0.49–0.76)
Seizure-related
152
0.34
55
0.12
0.36
0.157 (0.27–0.49)
Not seizure-related
58
0.13
73
0.16
1.26
0.176 (0.89–1.78)
IR = incidence rate: it is the number of events divided by patient-months of observation. IRR = incidence rate ratio; IRR < 1 indicates a lower incidence of the event in the postketogenic diet period.