Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To define the burden of inpatient neurologic disease seen in Ethiopian teaching hospitals. METHODS: We reviewed records of all medical inpatients admitted over a 6-month period to two teaching hospitals, one with and one without neurologists. RESULTS: Neurologic cases made up 18.0% and 24.7% of all medical admissions. The mortality rates were 21.8% and 34.7%. Noninfectious diseases were 36.7% and 31.7% of neurologic cases, but unknown etiologies made up 42.2% and 29.0% of all cases. Of total cases, only 42.9% and 24.1% had at least a high level of diagnostic certainty. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with neurologic disease make up a substantial minority of medical inpatients in Ethiopia. Noninfectious neurologic disease is at least as common as infectious neurologic disease. Reaching a well-defined final diagnosis occurs in only a minority of cases. Areas for improving the mortality rate include improving the barriers to diagnostic certainty and increasing treatment options for Ethiopian patients.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 338-342 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Neurology |
Volume | 68 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jan 2007 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Neurology