Prevalence of tardive dyskinesia among psychiatric in-patients at Mathari Hospital, Nairobi.

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of tardive dyskinesia among psychiatric in-patients. DESIGN A cross-sectional survey. SETTING Mathari Hospital, Nairobi, the main psychiatric referral hospital in Kenya. SUBJECTS Two hundred and two randomly selected in-patients seen in the hospital between January and April 2000. RESULTS The prevalence of tardive dyskinesia was 11.9%. Neither the psychiatric diagnosis nor the sex was significantly associated with tardive dyskinesia. The antipsychotic dosage was also not associated with tardive dyskinesia but an increase in age was significantly associated with the abnormal movements. CONCLUSION The prevalence rate of tardive dyskinesia among patients at Mathari Hospital is much lower than that found in western countries but similar to that from Asian studies. These findings indicate the possibility of racial differences in the aetiology of TD. Prospective cross-racial studies are necessary to confirm these findings.