Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>Background Having epileptic seizures, especially at night, comes with severe risks. Epilepsy is a lot more common in people with intellectual disabilities, which puts a specific population of people living in long-term care settings at a high risk of serious injuries or other complications. At the same time, current standards for nocturnal seizure detection in long-term care are lacking. Clinically effective seizure detection devices are available, but further research is needed to fully understand their practical benefits. This paper describes the study protocol for the KANS-project, which will aim to investigate the cost-effective application of seizure detection devices for high-risk night-time epileptic seizures. Methods This study will look at three aspects of the application of seizure detection devices: their clinical effectiveness, an economic analysis and user experience. A total of 44 participants who experience epileptic seizures during the night and are living in Dutch long-term care facilities will be included in this pre-post clinical trial. After a baseline period of care as usual, each participant will wear either a NightWatch or Epi-Care Free seizure detection device for 12 months. Through a combination of video monitoring and various questionnaires, the effect of seizure detection devices on the percentage of missed and correct visits from healthcare workers after a seizure will be measured. Furthermore, the number of complications related to seizures, as well as cost-effectiveness and cost-utility from a societal perspective will be investigated. Lastly, both healthcare workers and patients will be asked about their user experience. Discussion The KANS-project will aim to measure the cost-effectiveness of seizure detection devices for high-risk night-time epileptic seizures. Devices will be tested in a real life setting for a year. This study will help to fill gaps in the knowledge about seizure detection devices and their application in daily practice. Trial registration This study has been prospectively registered in the Overview of Medical Research in the Netherlands (OMON || https://onderzoekmetmensen.nl/en) (NL-OMON57154) on April fourth 2024.</p>