Validity of a screening instrument for neurologic disability in resource-poor African communities.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There have been no recent population-based studies on all-cause adult neurological morbidity in sub-Saharan Africa. We have developed a screening survey to improve the feasibility in performing these studies.

Methods

Our screening instrument contains both history questions and examination items. We pilot tested this instrument in the Hai District, Tanzania, and Butajira, Ethiopia using trained individuals from the local communities. To measure sensitivity, we applied the instrument blindly to 25 previously-identified subjects with Parkinson's disease, stroke or epilepsy. To measure specificity, we examined 42 randomly selected previously screened subjects. We also compared the validity of the entire instrument to the history-only section.

Results

There were

SUBMITTER: Bower JH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3414652 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature