Pattern and frequency of neurological and neurosurgical care of adult inpatients and outpatients at a tertiary referral hospital in Kenya

OBJECTIVE: To describe the patterns and burden of neurological and neurosurgical disorders at a national tertiary level referral hospital in western Kenya. METHODS: We conducted a three-month period prevalence study. We recruited consecutive adult patients seeking neurological-neurosurgical care in both inpatient and outpatient settings at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. RESULTS: 833 participants were included. The age range was between 19 year and 99 years (mean age = 45.3 years). The most common diagnoses among neurology inpatients were meningitis (12%), ischemic stroke (11.0%) and epilepsy/seizure (6.7%). Among neurology outpatients, epilepsy (35.1%) and ischemic stroke (18.8%) were the most common diagnoses. The most common neurosurgery inpatient diagnosis was hemorrhagic stroke (16.3%) and among outpatients, the most common diagnoses were traumatic brain injury (17.4%) and hemorrhagic stroke (16.3%). Overall, 471 (56.5%) patients underwent HIV testing, of which, 89 (18.9%) were HIV positive and 382 (81.1%) were HIV negative. Thirty-one inpatient deaths (male 58%), attributable to neurological and neurosurgical disorders, occurred during the study period. Meningitis was the most common cause of death. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that meningitis, stroke, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injury were the most common diagnosis. More resources and efforts should be directed towards prevention, diagnosis and management of these conditions in the region.