Tropical Doctor > Volume 39, Number 2 > Pp. 102-104

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Neurological disorders in rural Africa: a systematic approach

Andrea Sylvia Winkler MD PhD   ^*     Philipp Mosser MD      Erich Schmutzhard MD   

^* Interdisciplinary Centre for Palliative Medicine and Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany; Haydom Lutheran Hospital, Manyara Region, Tanzania; Department of Neurology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Austria

Correspondence to: Dr AS Winkler, Interdisciplinary Centre for Palliative Medicine and Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377 Munich, Germany Email: drawinkler{at}yahoo.com.au

Empirical knowledge suggests that neurological disorders are common in sub-Saharan Africa. The aims of our study were to assess the hospital-based prevalence of neurological disorders in a rural African setting and to suggest a systematic approach to disease classification. Of 8676 admissions (over a period of eight months) 740 patients (8.5%) were given a neurological diagnosis; cases were grouped according to diagnostic certainty. We suggest three major categories for neurological disorders (group 1 = no diagnostic uncertainties; group 2 = minor diagnostic uncertainties; group 3 = major diagnostic uncertainties) with clinical implications.

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