Diseases of the Nervous System as a Cause of Disability

Disability, in most cases, is caused by the devastation of the body by a chronic disease or cancer. Therefore, the aspect of prevention is extremely important, which we can only apply with knowledge of the most common diseases leading to disability. It is clear that the number of patients suffering from diseases of the nervous systems is increasing with age. Specifically, we can highlight severe strokes with evident neurological deficits, tumors of the central nervous system, encephalopathies, peripheral nerve damage, neurologic inflammatory diseases, epilepsy, back pain as the most common diseases in the nervous system. Patients affected by these conditions have various levels of disability, which also largely depends on the severity of the diseases at the time of diagnosis.

The main objective of the study was to find what is the incidence of disability certificate issuing due to neurological diseases in Lublin.

Material and methods Data was obtained through query to the Municipal Disability Assessment Centre in Lublin for the period 2006-2021.

Results The highest number of disability certificates due to neurological diseases, as many as 966, was issued in Lublin in 2015. Disability certificates of a moderate degree prevailed. The most numerous group of beneficiaries were people aged 41-60. In the period under study, such a certificate was received mostly by women. Persons with secondary education predominated. The overwhelming majority of these persons were not professionally employed. Analyzing the reasons for issuing disability certificates, the most frequent were diseases of the locomotor system, second were circulatory and respiratory system diseases and third were neurological diseases.

Conclusions Diseases of the nervous system are the 3rd most common cause of issuing disability certificates in Lublin from 2006-2021. The recipients were mainly middle-aged women with a secondary education. The problem is getting more and more common, therefore the prevention is crucial to decrease the number of patients with disability due to the diseases of the nervous system.