Prevalence of neurological disorders in Al Quseir, Egypt: methodological aspects

Hamdy El-Tallawy,¹ Wafa Farghaly,¹ Nabil Metwally,² Tarek Rageh,¹ Ghaydaa A Shehata,¹ Reda Badry,¹ Esam El Moselhy,² Mahmoud Hassan,² Mohamed M Sayed,³ Ahmed A Abdelwarith,¹ Y Hamed,² I Shaaban,² Talal Mohamed,⁴ Mohamed Abd El Hamed,¹ MR Kandil<sup>1

1</sup>Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt; ²Department of Neurology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University (Assiut branch), Assiut, Egypt; ³Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt; ⁴Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Qena University, Qena, Egypt

Abstract: Methodology and strategy play a very important role in epidemiological studies. Determination of the study area, geographical features, facilities, difficulties, and key personnel from the same area are important factors for successful methodology. Over 31 months (July 1, 2009 to January 31, 2012), a screening and an examination survey were carried out to ascertain the prevalence of epilepsy, stroke, dementia, cerebellar ataxia, migraine, cerebral palsy, Parkinsonism, chorea, athetosis, dystonia, trigeminal neuralgia, Bell's palsy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders in Al Quseir, Red Sea Governorate, Egypt. A total of 33,285 people were screened by three neurologists in a door-to-door manner, including every door, using a standardized Arabic questionnaire to detect any subject with a neurological disorder. The methodological aspects of this project were carried out through eight phases: (1) data collection; (2) preparation; (3) screening; (4) case ascertainment; (5) investigations; (6) classifications; (7) data entry; and (8) statistics and tabulations. The results of this study reveal that the total prevalence of neurological disorders in Al Quseir was 4.6% and higher among females (5.2%) than males (3.9%). The highest prevalence was recorded in the elderly population (60+ years [8.0%]) and among the age group 18–39 years (5.4%).

Keywords: methodological aspects, demographic data, prevalence