Objective: 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.

Background: Movement disorders are neurological disorders found worldwide with varying forms. They are generally thought to be uncommon in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) because of the relatively large young population in SSA. There is paucity of data about the disease in Sub- Saharan Africa including Nigeria.

Method: 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 (version 20; SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA).

Results: Four hundred patients with neurological diseases were seen over the time period out of which 49 of them had diagnosis of movement disorders made; with a frequency of 12.25%. The mean age of patients with movement disorders was 55 (SD = 13.49) years, with a range of 25-76 years; 35 (71.4%) were males and 14 (28.6%) were females. 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.

Conclusion: Parkinsonism is the most common movement disorder seen in our neurology clinic. The high frequency of movement disorders found indicates a need for training of movement disorder specialist in Nigeria and provision of basic drugs for managing affected patients.

References: Rufus .O. Akinyemi. Epidemiology of Parkinsonism and Parkinson’s disease in Sub-Saharan Africa: Nigerian profile. J Neurosci Rural Pract. 2012 Sep-Dec; 3(3): 233–234. doi: 10.4103/0976-3147.102586.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/frequency-and-pattern-of-movement-disorders-in-a-neurologic-clinic-in-north-central-nigeria-a-3-year-review/