[A descriptive analysis of ambulatory neurological care in Elche, Alicante]

To conduct a descriptive study of the welfare work carried out during one year in visits to ambulatory outpatient neurology clinics in the health district of Elche.

We carried out a prospective study of data from the first visits to two outpatient neurology clinics between 1st May 2005 and 30th April 2006.

A total of 3229 first-time visits were attended, with a mean age of 56.8 years (SD: 21) and 62% were females. The incidence of first-time visits was 18.9 per 1000 inhabitants over the age of 14 years per year. In all, 18% missed their appointments. Results showed that 93.9% of the visits came from Primary Care, with a total mean delay of 30.6 days (16.1 days in the preferential cases and 35.8 in ordinary cases). The most frequent reasons for referral were: headaches (27.2%), cognitive disorders (15.9%), applications for visas or orthopaedic material (8.3%), impaired levels of consciousness/paroxysms with suspected epilepsy (7.3%), dizziness/instability/vertigo (6.8%) and tremor (5.9%). The most frequent diagnoses were headache (28% of the total number; 41.35% of the group less than 65 years old), cognitive impairment (12.24% of the total number; 28.9% of the group equal or more than 65 years old), cerebrovascular disease (8.7%) and epilepsy (5.1%). Patients with a non-neurological pathology accounted for 21.8% of the total number.

In our environment, headache continues to be the leading reason behind referrals to the neurologist. One notable point is the high frequency with which patients without any kind of neurological disorder are referred; the same can be said for those referred for bureaucratic reasons (visas and prescriptions for orthopaedic materials).