PREVALENCE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS IN HAUTE-VIENNE DEPARTMENT (LIMOUSIN REGION - FRANCE)

The Limousin region had at present one of the largest elderly populati ons in France and in Europe. To determine the frequency of certain neu rological disorders in the elderly, a neuroepidemiological survey was conducted in 1986-1987 on a representative sample of the population in Haute-Vienne (the most population-dense department in the Limousin re gion). This study used a WHO protocol which was first introduced at th e beginning of the 1980s. It had been previously tested in France on a pilot population in 1984. The prevalences of the principal neurologic al disorders encountered per 100,000 inhabitants were as follows: nonm igraine headache 5,059, migraine 4,270, epilepsy 788, completed stroke 1,445, transient ischemic attacks 657, neuropathy 1,642, Parkinson's disease 328, and dementia 197.