Profile of neurological admissions at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu

The burden of Neurological diseases may be on the increase especially in developing countries. Improved outcome in these settings may require appreciation of the spectrum of Neurological diseases and the impediments to their management. We aim to determine the profile of neurological admissions and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nigerian journal of medicine 2010-10, Vol.19 (4), p.419-422
Main Authors: Ekenze, O S, Onwuekwe, I O, Ezeala Adikaibe, B A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age Distribution
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Data Collection
Female
Hospitals, Teaching - statistics & numerical data
Hospitals, Teaching - utilization
Humans
Incidence
Male
Middle Aged
Nervous System Diseases - classification
Nervous System Diseases - epidemiology
Nigeria - epidemiology
Patient Admission - statistics & numerical data
Prevalence
Retrospective Studies
Sex Distribution
Stroke - epidemiology
Young Adult
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Summary:The burden of Neurological diseases may be on the increase especially in developing countries. Improved outcome in these settings may require appreciation of the spectrum of Neurological diseases and the impediments to their management. We aim to determine the profile of neurological admissions and the challenges of managing these diseases at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu South East Nigeria. Analysis of Neurological admissions into the medical wards of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu from January 2003 to December 2007. Neurological admissions comprise about 14.8% of medical admissions. There were 640 (51%) males and 609 (49%) females. The spectrum of neurological diseases were stroke 64.9%, central nervous system infections (21.8% ), HIV related neurological diseases 3.5%, hypertensive encephalopathy (3.4%), dementia (3%), subarachnoid haemorrhage (2.2%), Guillian Barre syndrome (1.2%), Parkinson's disease (1.1%), myasthenia gravis (1.0%), motor neurone disease and peripheral neuropathy and accounted for 0.8% and 0.6% respectively. Overall, noninfectious disease accounted for 78.2% of neurological admissions while infectious diseases accounted for 11.8%. A wide spectrum of neurological diseases occurs in our setting. The high incidence of CNS infections indicates that efforts should be geared towards preventive measures. A major challenge to be addressed in the management of neurological diseases in our setting is the lack of specialized facilities.
ISSN:1115-2613
1115-2613
DOI:10.4314/njm.v19i4.61967