[Analysis of the neurologic demand of immigrant population in a outpatient neurological consultation].

INTRODUCTION

We analyse the demand for neurologic care reasons for consultation and diagnoses of the immigrant population in two extrahospitalary neurological outpatient clinics.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

A prospective one-year study of first visits of adult immigrant patients sent to the neurological outpatient clinic.

RESULTS

A total of 342 patients were included in the study. They represented 9.4% of total patients in one clinic and 4.1% in another. The average age was 32.9 years old. There was a predominance of women (62.2%). The average stay in our country was two years. Latin America (especially from Ecuador and Colombia), Morocco and East Europe were mainly the origin of the patients. The cause of consultation was headache in a half of the cases and neuromuscular pathology, epilepsy and psychiatric disorders were the next most frequent diagnoses in descending order. The most frequent diagnoses was tension-type headache, and in descending order of frequency: migraine and transformed migraine, epilepsy, carpal tunnel syndrome, idiopathic facial palsy, low back pain and sciatica and syncope. Tension-type headache and transformed migraine were in relation to their situation of immigrants (family, working, adaptive problems).

CONCLUSIONS

The neurologic care demands in immigrant population is the same as in spanish one. These are a young people that fundamentally consults by headache (in relation to adaptive problems), neuromuscular disorders, epilepsy and psychiatric disorders. The public health service have to take into account this population to health resources planning.