Patients with epilepsy have a higher mortality rate than the general population. A recent population-based study has found that external causes of death, such as suicide and accidental deaths of various types, account for 16% of the deaths in these patients, and that psychiatric comorbidity contributes significantly to their occurrence.
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Kanner, A. Psychiatric comorbidities and premature death in epilepsy. Nat Rev Neurol 9, 606–608 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.214
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.214
