Profile of clinically-diagnosed dementias in a neuropsychiatric practice in Abeokuta, south-western Nigeria.

Objective: Many subjects with dementia present primarily to neuropsychiatric practices because of behavioural and psychological symptoms (BPSD). This study reviewed the profile of clinically-diagnosed dementias and BPSD seen in a pioneer neuropsychiatric practice in Abeokuta, southwestern Nigeria over a ten year period (January1998 - December 2007).

Methods: A review of hospital records of all patients with diagnoses of dementia or dementing illness using the ICD-10 criteria as well as specific diagnostic criteria for different dementia phenotypes.

Financial cost of treating Nigerian in-patients with schizophrenia.

Fifty seven each ofhospitalised schizophrenic patients (fulfilled diagnostic criteria for research version of I.C.D.

Absconders from the Nigerian National Neuropsychiatric Hospital: a case control study.

A case-control survey of 136 absconders who left hospital without permission on a total of 170 occasions over a 15-month period was carried out. Absconding tended to be more frequent during the day time shifts (in contrast to the night shifts) and during the weekdays (in contrast to the weekends). The destination in the majority (62.

Nigerian juvenile offenders: a case-controlled study.

A case-controlled study was carried out on all the 51 juvenile delinquents found in a point prevalence survey of a Nigerian Borstal Remand Centre. Mean age of the delinquents was 17-27 years. They were mostly from the low social class (70.

Neuropsychiatric disorders in Nigerians: 1914 consecutive new patients seen in 1 year.

The socio-demographic attributes and the different diagnostic categories of patients attending Aro Neuropsychiatric Hospital for the first time over a 1-year period are presented. There was an overall preponderance of males but more females than males suffered from depression. Factors which distinguished patients with anxiety neurosis from those with neurotic and endogenous depression are identified.

The significance of subtyping tardive dyskinesia: a study of prevalence and associated factors.

The prevalence of tardive dyskinesia (TD) in 137 Nigerian psychiatric patients was 27%. There were no differences in the prevalence rate between patients with affective disorder and those with schizophrenia. There were also no significant differences between the sexes but a trend for the more severe forms of dyskinesia to be commoner in females was noticed.

Neurological soft signs in Nigerian schizophrenics: a controlled study.

The prevalence of neurological soft signs in schizophrenics was compared with that in patients with major affective disorder and in normal subjects. The two patient groups did not differ from one another, but both differed from normal controls in the occurrence of right-left confusion. The paranoid and nonparanoid subtypes of schizophrenia did not differ in the prevalence of neurological soft signs.

Life events and schizophrenia in Nigerians. A controlled investigation.

Forty-two first-episode RDC schizophrenic patients were matched on sociodemographic variables with an equal number of control subjects. The life-event histories of both groups for 6 months before onset or interview were compared. Onset of illness was not preceded by an increase in life events.

Sensorimotor laterality in schizophrenia: which features transcend cultural influences?

A battery of performance tests was conducted to compare motor laterality and eye dominance in Nigerian schizophrenics and normal controls. Both groups were similar in age and sex distribution. While no difference emerged with regard to right, mixed, or left handedness, or foot or eye dominance, cross-dominance (i.

Tardive dyskinesia in schizophrenics. Prevalence, distribution and relationship to neurological "soft" signs in Nigerian patients.

The prevalence of tardive dyskinesia (TD) in 70 Nigerian schizophrenics was 37%. Age was related to the presence of TD in males but not in females. Significantly more females had TD in the lower extremities.

A study of Schneider's first-rank symptoms of schizophrenia in Nigerian patients.

A prospective evaluation of Schneider's first-rank symptoms in 56 Nigerians with RDC schizophrenia gave a prevalence of 73%. The presence of first-rank symptoms was unrelated to schizophrenic subtypes, duration or severity of illness. While some of the symptoms correlate with age of patients, the pattern of inter-correlations among them supports previous views about their empirical heterogeneity.