Epidemiological investigation of neurological disorders: global measurement of disease impact

The past decades have witnessed an increasing impact of neurological disorders, especially as a result of extension of life expectancy and ageing of the population. Therefore, it represents emerging issue across the world, in particular in developing countries such as Serbia. In this project studies will be performed to examine: 1) prevalence, incidence and mortality of selected neurological disorders (stroke, Parkinson disease, spinocerebellar ataxia, restless leg syndrome) including updating of the existing data regarding multiple sclerosis, idiopathic dystonia and myasthenia gravis, in different regions of Serbia, 2) health-related quality of life (HRQL) of selected neurological patients and their caregivers in order to provide a global measure of disease impact, 3) cost of neurological disorders. These studies will be conducted in population-based cohorts and hospital-based samples. The expected outcomes of the project comprise: 1) estimated incidence, prevalence and mortality of selected neurological disorders in Serbia, 2) definition of the determinants of the HRQL in patients with selected neurological disorders and their caregivers in our population, 3) assessment of the potential role of HRQL as a prognostic factor for the progression of selected neurological diseases, 4) validated disease-specific HRQL questionnaires according to the specificities of Serbian language and cultural settlements, 5) evaluated cost of selected neurological disorders in Serbia.