• Foziah J Alshamrani, Mohammed A Alshurem, Mohammed F Almuaigel, and Noor M AlMohish.
• Neurology Department, College of Medicine Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Al Khobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. E-mail. fshamrani@iau.edu.sa.
• Saudi Med J. 2020 Aug 1; 41 (8): 828833828-833.

ObjectivesTo identify epilepsy triggers prevalent in Saudi Arabia with a view to seizure prevention or achieving a reduction in their frequency.MethodsThis is part of a cross-sectional study carried out in 2020 in a Saudi population in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). We used an online questionnaire to evaluate the most common seizure trigger factors.ResultsA total of 546 Saudi patients with epilepsy participated in the study, of which 289 (53%) were women. Of them, 263 (48.1%) had no seizure in the previous 3 months. One hundred and thirty-six (25%) had a family member with epilepsy. The most-reported trigger factor was sleep deprivation reported by 285 (52%), followed by stress 225 (41%), missed medication 210 (38.5%), anxiety 209 (38.3%), and fatigue 184 (33.7%). Conclusions: Sleep deprivation is the most reported trigger factor for seizures in the KSA, followed by stress, followed by missed medication.

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