Pattern of neurological disorders above the middle aged population in JIPMER, Pondicherry

This study is a report of neurological cases in a teaching hospital during the year 1991. Out of 2,34,021 new patients seen in the hospital, 1153 (0.49 percent) were referred to the neurology clinic. 27.6 percent were above 40 years of age. 70 percent in this age group were males and 30 percent were females. The common disorders observed were episodic and paroxysmal group (45.3 percent) followed by extrapyramidal and movement disorders (19.5 percent), nerves, nerve root and plexus disorders (9.4 percent), diseases of the spinal cord (7.5 percent) and other (18.3 percent). Among the diseases epilepsy was the commonest (20.6 percent) followed by cerebrovascular accidents (19.1 percent) Parkinson's disease (16.9 percent) alcoholic cerebellar degeneration (3.7 percent), Polyneuropathies (3.7 percent) etc. Cerebrovascular accidents were predominantly reported among the males (P < 0.05). Age specific proportion of cases increased significantly with increasing age for vascular syndromes in cerebrovascular diseases, extrapyramidal and movement disorders. However, epilepsy and headache syndromes declined significantly with the increasing age (P < 0.05).