Authors: Ndèye Dialé NDIAYE NDONGO, Dame KANDJI, Aida SYLLA, Mamadou Habib THIAM.
Background and Objectives: The lack of data on the extent of mental disorders in the general population in Senegal motivated our study. It aims to determine the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of patients consulting in the outpatient unit of CHNU Fann's Department of Psychiatry in Dakar.
Methodology: It was a quantitative, descriptive, retrospective study based on patient records over a 5-year period from July 1st, 2010 to June 30th, 2015.
Results: Six thousand six hundred and fifty case files were collected. The patients were young (average age 33.5 years), mostly resident in Dakar 77.17%. Acute delusional psychosis 32.91%, depressive states 13.06%, schizophrenia 12.24%, and hysterical nevrosis 8.59% were the most frequent diagnoses, followed by dementia 6.29% and epilepsy 5,28%. The most prescribed drugs were neuroleptics with 60.44% followed by anxiolytics with 28.18%.
Conclusion: This retrospective study tells us about the main conditions encountered. It should be supplemented by a study in the general population and allow the setting up of policy of care adapted to the specific needs of the population.
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