Learnings from deaths – the Epilepsy Deaths Register

The Epilepsy Deaths Register (EDR) differs from typical registries which concentrate primarily on clinical information. It is completed by bereaved relatives and focuses on the circumstances immediately before, and the support following, a death. It can be augmented by copies of death certificates from the families of the deceased, and all epilepsy associated deaths can be entered. The EDR is underpinned by the research and experience of the SUDEP Action team and the clinical advisors who helped design the methodology and the web-based platform. The EDR has been open since 2013 and currently has over 750 entries from over 20 different countries, the majority from the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. The bereaved have shown that they place their trust in the register as a vehicle to be involved in research, even under the most difficult of circumstances. As the EDR matures, we hope to identify the common and rarer patterns of epilepsy-associated death; maintaining our dual ambitions to remain committed to listen, and to make every death count.