Objective: To determine the pattern of neurologic disorder in the specialized neurology out patient at tertiary care level. Methods: This observational study was carried out in specialized neurology outpatient clinic of Dhaka Medical College Hospital from July 2015 to July 2016, which included 8892 patients. Data were collected through a predesigned questionnaire from the hospital database kept at the clinic. Result: A total of 8892 patients were seen in neurology OPD in one year. About one third of the patients presented at 21-30 years of age. There was a male dominance (53%) with a male to female ratio of 1.12:1. Most of the patients had hypertension (3201, 36%) followed by diabetes and ischemic heart disease (1956, 22%; 1423, 16%) as co-morbid condition. Majority had Headache (4090, 46%) followed by vertigo (1067, 12%); vomiting (711, 8%) and neck and/ back pain (702, 8%) as presenting symptom at onset. Majority of the patients (46%) were diagnosed as headache disorder (Tension type headache in 33.5%, Migraine 7.5% and mixed headache in 5%) followed by ischemic stroke (896, 10%); polyneuropathy (446, 5%); vestibular disorder (441, 5%); movement disorder (267, 3%) and anxiety/depression (254, 3%). About 15% (1346) patient were undiagnosed at initial visit. Conclusion: Neurological diseases are not uncommon even at middle aged patients. Headache, vertigo, neck/back pain are common presenting symptom. Headache disorders and stroke are the commonest neurologic diagnosis at OPD.

A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among individuals attending the Out Patient Department (OPD) of Medicine, Surgery and Gynaecology & Obstetrics from February 1, 2010 to April 30, 2010 in Sir Salimullah Medical College and Mitford Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh to see the patterns of drug dispensing using World Health Organization core patient care indicators. The result of the study showed that the overall average consultation time and dispensing time were too short (2.5 minutes and 30 seconds per patient respectively). Of the drugs prescribed, only 20.15% were actually dispensed, whereas no appropriate labeling (0%) was observed and 37.3% of patients knew how to administer drugs correctly after receiving the drugs from the dispenser. So the finding from current study shows a trend towards inappropriate dispensing practice. Hence, there is a need for effective intervention programme to encourage the physicians and dispensing pharmacists in promoting patient care as well as health care facilities. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bmj.v41i1.18776 Bangladesh Medical Journal 2012 Vol. 41 No. 1; 21-24