Patrick Orikiriza
Background: Dementia, is a common disease among elderly persons and is characterized by progressive decline of cognitive functioning. Uganda is one of the countries grappling with high fertility rates and 4% elderly population. Most low resource settings lack capacity to screen and diagnose dementia because of limited testing options. We evaluated the impact of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA) tool in screening dementia among elderly patients in a low resource setting. There is a paucity of information about the association of seizure severity and quality of life (QoL) in people living with epilepsy (PLWE) in sub-Saharan Africa. We evaluated the relationship between seizure severity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with epilepsy being followed up in an outpatient neurology clinic in urban central Uganda. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda. We enrolled 90 elderly patients (≥60 years) admitted in medical, surgical, emergency, obstetrics and gynaecological, and psychiatry wards. All participants had standardized screening using the MOCA tool in order to establish the relevance of the checklist in the management of dementia within a low resource setting.