Neurology Outpatient Demand: Comparison Between a Ministry of Public Health Hospital and the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security of Ecuador

It is common to compare the reasons of medical consultations between institutions, but there are very few publications that compare specialist consultations between the Ministry of Public Health and private institutions. If we add to that that in Ecuador, there is a clearly defined climatic-territorial division between the highlands, coast, and Amazon region that could influence significantly the types of consultations. Objective: to compare the neurological demand evaluated in outpatient consultations between a hospital of the Ministry of Public Health on the Ecuadorian coast and a hospital of the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security in the highlands of Ecuador. Results: both institutions present headaches as the main reason for consultation. Epilepsy, the second most frequent etiological group, was the only group that showed a significant difference, with a higher number of patients (p=0.001) as well as consultations (p=0.0001) in the Ministry of Public Health compared to the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security. Conclusion: Headaches were the main reason why patients went to the neurologist, agreeing with the rest of world publications that describe neurology outpatient consultation. Cases of epilepsy were a controversial point that must be studied in the future to understand why they occur more at the Ministry of Public Health. The analysis of outpatient consultations can be helpful when managing health policies, regardless of the healthcare facility location.