• Melanie Chapman, Pam Iddon, Kathy Atkinson, Colin Brodie, Duncan Mitchell, Garry Parvin, and Steve Willis.
• Manchester Learning Disability Partnership, Quality Research & Service Development Team, Mauldeth House, Mauldeth Road West, Manchester M21 7RL, United Kingdom. melanie.chapman@manchester.gov.uk
• Seizure. 2011 Mar 1;20(2):101-6.

PurposeEpilepsy is common in people with intellectual disabilities. Epilepsy can be difficult to diagnose and may be misdiagnosed in around 25% of cases. A systematic review was conducted to explore: (i) How common the misdiagnosis of epilepsy is amongst people with intellectual disabilities. (ii) Reasons for misdiagnosis of epilepsy. (iii) Implications of misdiagnosis. (iv) Improving diagnosis.MethodsPrimary studies and systematic reviews published in the English language between 1998 and 2008 were identified from electronic databases, experts, the Internet, grey literature, and citation tracking. Included studies were critically appraised by team members using the appraisal tools produced by the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) at the Public Health Resource Unit, Oxford.ResultsEight studies were included in the review and critically appraised: six cohort studies and two case studies. Where data was provided in the cohort studies between 32% and 38% of people with intellectual disabilities were diagnosed as not having epilepsy or as having nonepileptic events. The main reason for misdiagnosis was the misinterpretation of behavioural, physiological, syndrome related, medication related or psychological events by parents, paid carers and health professionals.ConclusionsThose working in epilepsy and intellectual disability services and families must be made more aware of the possibility of misdiagnosis. Future research is needed about the misdiagnosis of epilepsy amongst people with intellectual disabilities and carer knowledge.Copyright © 2010 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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