A systematic review of the incidence and prevalence of long-term neurological conditions in the UK.

BACKGROUND

Updated, robust estimates of the incidence and prevalence of rare long-term neurological conditions in the UK are not available. Global estimates may be misrepresentative as disease aetiology may vary by location.

OBJECTIVES

To systematically review the incidence and prevalence of long-term neurological conditions in the UK since 1988.

SEARCH STRATEGY: Medline (January 1988 to January 2009), Embase (January 1988 to January 2009), CINAHL (January 1988 to January 2009) and Cochrane CENTRAL databases.

SELECTION CRITERIA: UK population-based incidence/prevalence studies of long-term neurological conditions since 1988. Exclusion criteria included inappropriate diagnoses and incomprehensive case ascertainment.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Articles were included based on the selection criteria. Data were extracted from articles with ranges of incidence and prevalence reported.

MAIN

RESULTS

Eight studies met the criteria (3 on motor neurone disease; 4 on Huntington's disease; 1 on progressive supranuclear palsy). The incidence of motor neurone disease ranged from 1.06 to 2.4/100,000 person-years. The prevalence ranged from 4.02 to 4.91/100,000. The prevalence of Huntington's disease ranged from 4.0 to 9.94/100,000. The prevalence of progressive supranuclear palsy ranged from 3.1 to 6.5/100,000.

CONCLUSIONS

The review updates the incidence/prevalence of long-term neurological conditions. Future epidemiological studies must incorporate comprehensive case ascertainment methods and strict diagnostic criteria.