Demographic and Clinical Profile of Patients with Parkinsonism in Northwestern Nigeria

Abstract Introduction: Parkinsonism is a disorder characterised by bradykinesia, rigidity, tremors and postural or gait abnormality of many aetiologies with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD) topping the list of causes. In Northwestern Nigeria, there is a paucity of data on parkinsonism and PD. As such, this study aims to assess the demographic and clinical profile of these patients. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study carried out in Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital Sokoto over four years between January 2019 and December 2021. Results: A total of 1344 patients with different neurologic conditions were seen between January 2019 and December 2021 of which 56 had parkinsonism. About 69.6% had idiopathic PD, whereas 30.4% had secondary parkinsonism. The hospital frequency of parkinsonism and PD was 4.1% and 2.6%, respectively. Vascular parkinsonism accounted for 88.2% of patients with secondary parkinsonism with multiple system atrophy and dementia with Lewy body each accounting for 1.8% of patients. About 71.4% were males, 94.6% had tremors which also happened to be the most common initial symptom. Non-motor symptoms were seen in fewer than 50% of the patients. Conclusion: This study showed that the demographic and clinical profile of patients with parkinsonism and PD in Sokoto is not so different from what was obtained in other studies across the country. Treatment options available to these patients are limited to the few available oral medications, with the most commonly used one being levodopa/carbidopa either as monotherapy or in combination with dopamine agonist or benzhexol.