Mortality in patients with intellectual disability and epilepsy

Although the life expectancy of patients with intellectual disability is increasing and approaching that of the population in general, those intellectually disabled patients with co-existing epilepsy demonstrate a significantly higher mortality rate. This partly reflects the association between the presence of epilepsy and the severity of intellectual disability, which is itself related to reduced life expectancy. However, epilepsy is a factor in a significant proportion of deaths for those with intellectual disability as a result of status epilepticus, sudden unexpected deaths, and seizure-related trauma and drowning.