A 3-Year Review of Frequency and Pattern of Movement Disorders in a Neurologic Clinic of a Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria

Abstract

Movement disorders are neurological disorders found worldwide with varying forms. They are generally thought to be uncommon in Sub-Saharan Africa because of the relatively large young population. This study evaluated the frequency and pattern of movement disorders in a neurology clinic in a tertiary hospital in North Central Nigeria over a 3-year period. The records of all patients attending Neurology Clinic in Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, North Central Nigeria were reviewed retrospectively from March 2016 to February 2019, and diagnoses as made by the Neurologist were obtained. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software (IBM SPSS statistics 21).Four hundred patients were seen out of which 49 of them had diagnosis of movement disorders made; giving a frequency of 12.3%. The mean age was 55 (SD = 13.49) years; 35 (71.4%) were males and 14 (28.6%) were females. Hypokinetic movement disorders were 28(57.1%) while hyperkinetic movement disorders were 21(42.9%). Twenty eight (57.2%) had Parkinsonism, 6 (12.2%) had dystonia, 6 (12.2%) had essential tremors, 4 (8.2%) had Tics, 3 (6.1%) had chorea and 2 (4.2%) had myoclonus. All the patients with Parkinsonism were on combination treatments namely: Levodopa/carbidopa with Trihexyphenidyl therapy 16 (57.1%) and Levodopa/carbidopa therapy 8 (28.6%). About 6 (50.0%) of dystonia cases were on clonazepam monotherapy; essential tremor, 9 (75.0%) of them were on propranolol monotherapy; tics, 3 (75.0%) of them were on haloperidol and all the 3 patients with chorea were on haloperidol. Parkinsonism is the most common movement disorder seen in our cohort.