Table 2.1 Open in new tab The...

Table 2.1

The approximate incidence of various neurological disorders and how often a new case will be seen in primary care by a general practitioner or family doctor with a list size of 2000 people

	Incidence/100 000/ annum	Number of years between consecutive new cases seen by a general practitioner with a list size of 2000 people
Stroke	200	0.25
Carpal tunnel syndrome	100	0.5
First epileptic (non-febrile) seizure	50	1.0
Transient ischaemic attack	50	1.0
Bell’s palsy	25	2.0
Essential tremor	24	2.1
Parkinson’s disease	20	2.5
Primary brain tumour	15	3.3
Secondary brain tumour	14	3.6
Multiple sclerosis (Scotland)	12	4.2
Subarachnoid haemorrhage	10	5.0
Essential tremor	8	6.3
Giant cell arteritis	6	8.3
Migrainous neuralgia	6	8.3
Unexplained motor symptoms	5	10
Trigeminal neuralgia	4	13
Meningococcal meningitis (UK)	3	17
Transient global amnesia	3	17
Guillain–Barré syndrome	2	25
Intracranial vascular malformation	2	25
Motor neurone disease	2	25
Neuralgic amyotrophy	2	25
Progressive supranuclear palsy	1	50
Diabetic amyotrophy	1	50
Benign intracranial hypertension	1	50
Focal dystonia	1	50
Myasthenia gravis	1	50
Polymyositis/dermatomyositis	1	50
Hemifacial spasm	0.8	63
Multiple system atrophy	0.6	83
Gilles de la Tourette syndrome	0.5	100
Pneumococcal meningitis (UK)	0.5	100
Herpes simplex encephalitis	0.2	250
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (sporadic)	0.1	500
Tetanus	0.1	500
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis	0.03	1667
Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (UK)	0.02	2500

	Incidence/100 000/ annum	Number of years between consecutive new cases seen by a general practitioner with a list size of 2000 people
Stroke	200	0.25
Carpal tunnel syndrome	100	0.5
First epileptic (non-febrile) seizure	50	1.0
Transient ischaemic attack	50	1.0
Bell’s palsy	25	2.0
Essential tremor	24	2.1
Parkinson’s disease	20	2.5
Primary brain tumour	15	3.3
Secondary brain tumour	14	3.6
Multiple sclerosis (Scotland)	12	4.2
Subarachnoid haemorrhage	10	5.0
Essential tremor	8	6.3
Giant cell arteritis	6	8.3
Migrainous neuralgia	6	8.3
Unexplained motor symptoms	5	10
Trigeminal neuralgia	4	13
Meningococcal meningitis (UK)	3	17
Transient global amnesia	3	17
Guillain–Barré syndrome	2	25
Intracranial vascular malformation	2	25
Motor neurone disease	2	25
Neuralgic amyotrophy	2	25
Progressive supranuclear palsy	1	50
Diabetic amyotrophy	1	50
Benign intracranial hypertension	1	50
Focal dystonia	1	50
Myasthenia gravis	1	50
Polymyositis/dermatomyositis	1	50
Hemifacial spasm	0.8	63
Multiple system atrophy	0.6	83
Gilles de la Tourette syndrome	0.5	100
Pneumococcal meningitis (UK)	0.5	100
Herpes simplex encephalitis	0.2	250
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (sporadic)	0.1	500
Tetanus	0.1	500
Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis	0.03	1667
Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (UK)	0.02	2500

These figures are all very approximate. They have been taken from various more or less sound community-based epidemiological studies in Europe or North America and a large survey of general practice in the United Kingdom (MacDonald et al. 2000). When more than one study is available, an approximate average rate has been used. The exact rates will generally depend on the age and sex structure of the population, which varies between communities, the size of the population which will influence the precision of any estimate, and on the precise diagnostic criteria which also vary. However, the rates give a general idea of incidence and how common, or rare, some neurological disorders are.

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