Author
College of Medicine, Al- Mustansiriyah University. Pediatric Neurologist, Central Teaching Hospital of Pediatric, Baghdad, Iraq.
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Document Type : Research Paper
Abstract
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND:
Around 20% of the global disease burden is attributed to neurological disorders. In developing countries, neurological disorders are the leading cause of disability among children. Unfortunately many children with these conditions also face the additional burdens of poverty, ignorance, and inadequate healthcare facilities. Most of the time, these children are not able to receive the proper care and support they need.
OBJECTIVE:
To observe the pattern of childhood neurological diseases that are encountered in the neurology outpatient clinics at a tertiary care hospital in Baghdad, Iraq.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
This is a prospective descriptive study carried out in the neurology outpatient clinics of the central teaching hospital of pediatrics over the period from June 2022 to January 2023 The data were collected through a pre‑designed questionnaire from hand‑written registers maintained by neurology consultants and seniors at the neurology clinics.
RESULTS:
There were a total of 4325 children consulted the pediatric neurological outpatient clinic in the central teaching hospital of pediatrics in Baghdad Iraq during the 6 months of the study time, their ages range from 1 day to 14 years. The most common age group was those from 1 to 5 years old about 1641 children (37.94%). male were more common than female 2474(57.20%) of children. Nearly one-third of the patients consulted the outpatient clinic were complaining of seizure and epilepsy disorders (1537 children). The next most common neurological problem was cerebral palsy in 984 patients (22.75%). Almost 6% of outpatient clinic visitors were suffering from behavior problems.
CONCLUSION:
Knowing the spectrum of neurological diseases in neurology outpatient clinic at the tertiary care level will help to understand the neurological demands and supply in our pediatric hospitals, the results put forward that neurological and behavioral disorders are common in pediatrics and vary in range among them. The higher frequency of epilepsy and cerebral palsy suggests that priority should be given to training and anticipatory measures with early diagnosis and proper management.
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