Incidence and lifetime prevalence of Bell's palsy in two Sicilian municipalities

In a door-to-door two-phase survey of common neurologic diseases conducted in two Sicilian municipalities, we investigated the incidence and the lifetime prevalence of Bell's palsy (BP).During phase I, we administered a screening instrument for facial palsy to 11,901 adult persons. During phase 2, study neurologists using specified diagnostic criteria evaluated those subjects who screened positive.We found 73 subjects who had experienced BP during their life. The lifetime prevalence as of November 1, 1987, was 642.8 cases per 100,000 population age 15 years and above. The prevalence increased with age and was similar in men and women. Eighteen episodes of BP occurred in the three years preceding the prevalence day. The average annual incidence rate was 52.8 new episodes per 100,000 population age 15 years and above. Incidence increased with age.Comparison with other incidence studies suggests some geographic variability.