Neurological disorders encountered at an out-patient clinic in Ghana's largest medical center: A 16-year review

BACKGROUND: With a rising age of its population, sub-Saharan Africa(SSA) is currently experiencing an unprecedented rise in burden of neurological disorders. There is limited data on the demographic profile of neurological diseases in SSA. OBJECTIVE: To describe the spectrum of neurological disorders at the adult neurology clinic at Ghana's leading medical center. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted at the adult neurology clinic at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital between 2003 and 2019. We retrospectively reviewed charts of all cases seen at the clinic over the period to document main neurological diagnosis, and captured age and sex of participants. Neurologic diseases were classified using the revised International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems ICD 11 tool. RESULTS: There were 7950 patients sought consultation over the period with 7076 having a primary neurological disorder. The mean age ± SD of patients included in the analysis was 43.0 ± 19.8 years with 3777 (53.4%) being males. The frequencies of the top 5 neurological disorders were epilepsy (23.0%), peripheral neuropathies (19.6%), movement disorders (14.7%), cerebrovascular diseases (11.1%) and headache disorders (7.7%). Neurocognitive disorders, autoimmune demyelinating disorders of the nervous system, and motor neuron disorders were infrequently observed. CONCLUSION: A wide spectrum of neurological disorders were encountered in this clinic, similar to previous report from other centers in SSA. There is an urgent need to build local capacity to provide optimal care to meet the demand of the rising burden of neurological diseases in Ghana.