Exposure to Phototherapy and Childhood Seizure Risk

Investigators from the University of California, San Francisco, and Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) conducted a retrospective study to assess the association of phototherapy and seizures. Children born ≥35 weeks’ gestation at a KPNC hospital from 1995–2011 and followed for >60 days were eligible. Children were excluded if they had a total serum bilirubin (TSB) level that ever exceeded the exchange transfusion threshold, or if they had any encounter at <60 days of age for epilepsy or convulsions. Patient demographics, birthweight, gestational age, and TSB levels were abstracted from KPNC data.

The primary predictor variable was exposure to any phototherapy, ascertained using hospital discharge procedure codes, physician orders, nursing flow sheets, and orders for a home phototherapy device. The primary outcome variable was having ≥1 encounter …