ABSTRACT
Objectives:The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated to poor adherence to antiepileptic drugs in a referral hospital of Douala, Cameroon.Method:This was a cross-sectional and descriptive study of antiepileptic drugs (AED) adherence carried out in a group of selected patients with epilepsy. Patients were recruited from January to June 2018 at the Neurology Department of the Douala Laquintinie Hospital. Non-adherence to antiepileptic drugs was measured by the 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale and logistic regression was used to look for significant associations.Results:Participants (n=102) were of mean age 28.39 ± 19.74 years-old with 55% of male sex. Non-adherence was observed in 84 patients giving a prevalence rate of 82.35%. The factors associated to poor adherence to AEDs were forgetfulness (p<0.0001), lack of financial resources (p<0.0001), not having medication on hand, shortage of drugs at the pharmacy (p<0.0001) and lack of information on the disease (p<0.0001).Conclusion:Non-adherence to AEDs is common in Cameroon. Targeted management programs and communication strategies as well as health workers training are necessary to improve adherence to AED treatment in patients with epilepsy and avoid consequences such as seizure recurrence, status epilepticus and poor quality of life
Subject(s)
Anticonvulsants , Cameroon , EpilepsyABSTRACT
Objective: Given the little availability of MRI in sub-Saharan Africa, we carried out this study focusing on CT-scan in adult headache disorder, in order to determine epidemiological and clinical profile of adult patients undergoing CT-scan for headache disorder, and the organic pathologies discovered in sub-Saharan Africa.Method: We carried out a multicentric prospective cross-sectional study in medical imaging departments of Yaounde Central Hospital and Douala Laquintinie Hospital, which are two teaching hospitals in Cameroon. We consecutively and non-exhaustively included all consenting patients aged eighteen years or above, referred to radiology department to undergo a head CT-scan as aetiological workup of headache disorder, from either traumatic or non-traumatic mechanism. Patients with a Glasgow coma scale less than thirteen were excluded. We interviewed eligible patients, and performed a neurological examination and a complete physical examination before they underwent head CT-scan. The scanning was performed using a brand HITACHI ECLOS 16 slices CT-scan, in helical mode with or without contrast enhancement according to the clinical context. The reading was done by experimented radiologists