OBJECTIVES:

• To observe incidence of febrile seizures in Pediatric department from October to March 2018.
• To assess the cause of fever and identify risk factors in subjects with febrile seizures
• To assess the anemic status in the subjects and history of worm infestations and evaluating the reason for being anemic by using Kuppuswamy scale.
• To determine the adverse effects with clobazam.
• To assess the medication adherence status and improving the anemic status of subjects with febrile seizures by providing patient counselling.

METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional observational study conducted in Government General Hospital, Guntur, a 1187 bedded tertiary care teaching hospital. Patients were randomly assigned to receive oral clobazam for 3 days with the following dosage: 5mg daily in children <5kg; 5mg, twice daily(BD) in children 6-10 kg; 7.5mg BD in children 11-15 kg ; 10mg BD in children >15kg.

RESULTS: During the study period, incidence of febrile seizures in pediatric ward GGH was n=188 (5.38%) out of n=3495 children admitted and it was more in the month of December n=30 (6.50%).The mean Haemoglobin value before patient couselling was 7.98±1.35 gms and after counselling was 8.53±1.25 gms with a p value (0.001). The mean value of medication adherance before patient counselling was 3.78±1.61 and after counselling was 5.42±1.50 with a p value (0.001).The major risk factors observed were family history and anemia with a p value of (0.003).There was no recurrence of seizures in 114 subjects after Clobazam therapy as intermittent prophylaxis. The most commonly observed side effect was Sedation n=26 (21.12%) .

CONCLUSIONS:

This study concluded that Clobazam was effective as intermittent prophylaxis in preventing the recurrence of febrile seizures where anemia was a major risk factor and counselling plays a significant role in improving the anaemic status and adherence of the subjects.