{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T04:04:37Z","timestamp":1790913877236,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,15]],"date-time":"2025-04-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1744675200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Indiana University Office for Women and Office of the Vice President for Research"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Neurological disorders significantly contribute to the global burden of diseases, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. However, within local contexts in Kenya, little is known about the pattern of neurological and neurosurgical disorders within pediatric populations. A 3-month cross-sectional observational study was conducted at a tertiary-level hospital in western Kenya to describe these patterns and basic characteristics of the patient population. Consecutive pediatric patients presenting for neurological and neurosurgical care in inpatient and outpatient settings at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital were included in the study. A total of 485 patients were included in the study. The average age of the patients was 6.2 years, and most were male (57%). Out of these, 30.3% (n=147) were inpatients, and 69.7% (n=338) were outpatients. Inpatients traveled longer distances compared to outpatients (P&lt;0.001), and most were from rural areas (P&lt;0.0001), while outpatients were mostly from peri-urban areas (P&lt;0.0001). The majority of the inpatients (25%) and outpatients (69%) had a diagnosis of epilepsy. Other common neurological conditions were neurodevelopmental delays and meningitis\/encephalitis. Given the burden of these diseases, there is a need to improve the health infrastructure for better access to quality healthcare. Specifically, improving epilepsy care, supporting neurodevelopmental programs, managing infectious diseases, and expanding neurosurgical services can enhance health infrastructure for this population.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0321501","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,15]],"date-time":"2025-04-15T17:36:45Z","timestamp":1744738605000},"page":"e0321501","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Neurological conditions among pediatric patients seeking care at a tertiary level hospital in western Kenya"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Eren","family":"Oyungu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Megan Song","family":"McHenry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chrispine","family":"Oduor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jamil","family":"Said","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2922-8610","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"O\u2019Brien","family":"Kyololo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1180-8577","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jane R.","family":"von Gaudecker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,15]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0321501.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"200","DOI":"10.1055\/s-0038-1649336","article-title":"Global Health: Pediatric Neurology","volume":"38","author":"DR Bearden","year":"2018","journal-title":"Seminars in Neurology"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0321501.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1007\/s11910-017-0808-0","article-title":"Long-term survivors of childhood brain tumors: impact on general health and quality of life","volume":"17","author":"P Gupta","year":"2017","journal-title":"Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep"},{"key":"pone.0321501.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.1016\/j.spen.2018.03.002","article-title":"Global burden of pediatric neurological disorders","volume":"27","author":"CR Newton","year":"2018","journal-title":"Seminars in Pediatric Neurology"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0321501.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"253","DOI":"10.1016\/S1474-4422(13)70003-6","article-title":"Prevalence of active convulsive epilepsy in sub-Saharan Africa and associated risk factors: cross-sectional and case-control studies","volume":"12","author":"AK Ngugi","year":"2013","journal-title":"Lancet Neurol"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0321501.ref005","first-page":"208","article-title":"Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in Africa: a perspective","volume":"14","author":"MO Bakare","year":"2011","journal-title":"Afr J Psychiatry (Johannesbg)"},{"key":"pone.0321501.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1301524","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2024.1301524","article-title":"Prevalence and determinants of developmental delay among children in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"12","author":"T Wondmagegn","year":"2024","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0321501.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"573","DOI":"10.1177\/0883073815604222","article-title":"Survey of neurological disorders in children aged 9-15 years in Northern India","volume":"31","author":"R Kumar","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Child Neurol"},{"key":"pone.0321501.ref008","first-page":"1548","article-title":"Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder symptoms in a paediatric neurology clinic at a tertiary hospital in Uganda","volume":"27","author":"A Arinda","year":"2021","journal-title":"S Afr J Psychiatr"},{"issue":"9848","key":"pone.0321501.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1193","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(12)61381-6","article-title":"Epilepsy in poor regions of the world","volume":"380","author":"CR Newton","year":"2012","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"pone.0321501.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"82","DOI":"10.1016\/j.seizure.2019.06.018","article-title":"Epidemiology of children with epilepsy at a tertiary referral centre in South Africa","volume":"70","author":"S Ackermann","year":"2019","journal-title":"Seizure"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0321501.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"453","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.mm7112a3","article-title":"Health needs and use of services among children with developmental disabilities - United States, 2014-2018","volume":"71","author":"ME Cogswell","year":"2022","journal-title":"MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep"},{"key":"pone.0321501.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.1016\/j.seizure.2020.06.013","article-title":"Epilepsy care cascade, treatment gap and its determinants in rural South Africa","volume":"80","author":"RG Wagner","year":"2020","journal-title":"Seizure"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0321501.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1061","DOI":"10.1016\/S1474-4422(18)30387-9","article-title":"Global, regional, and national burden of meningitis, 1990\u20132016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016","volume":"17","author":"JR Zunt","year":"2018","journal-title":"The Lancet Neurology"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0321501.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1007\/s00401-015-1481-5","article-title":"Infections, inflammation and epilepsy","volume":"131","author":"A Vezzani","year":"2016","journal-title":"Acta Neuropathol"},{"key":"pone.0321501.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100286","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ensci.2020.100286","article-title":"Pattern and frequency of neurological and neurosurgical care of adult inpatients and outpatients at a tertiary referral hospital in Kenya","volume":"21","author":"JR von Gaudecker","year":"2020","journal-title":"eNeurologicalSci"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0321501","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,15]],"date-time":"2025-04-15T17:36:51Z","timestamp":1744738611000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0321501"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Alvan-Emeka K.","family":"Ukachukwu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,15]]},"references-count":15,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,15]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0321501","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,15]]}}}