Prevalence and clinical findings of migraine and tension-type headache in adolescents

Abstract

Background: The majority of previous studies on headache in children and adolescents have focused mainly on migraine. There is a paucity of population-based studies investigating the prevalence of tension-type headache (TTH). The objectives of the present study were to estimate the prevalence of migraine and TTH in adolescents using the 2004 International Headache Society (IHS) criteria and to determine the sociodemographic and clinical differences between the migraine and TTH.

Methods: Stratified group sampling was used in the present analytic, school-based, cross-sectional study. From the city of Izmir, 2384 students aged 14-18 years were invited to complete a questionnaire.

Results: Migraine was found to be more common than TTH (21.3% vs 5.1%). The prevalence increased considerably to 29.9 and 15%, respectively, when the criteria defining the number and duration of headaches were excluded. All types of headaches were more frequent in female subjects but no significant difference was found in gender between the headache groups (P= 0.073). Headache in temples, number of siblings (more than one sibling), mother's and father's education (at least high school graduation) were more commonly seen in students with TTH. Absenteeism rate due to the headache was found to be higher in the migraine group than in the TTH group (P= 0.000).

Conclusions: Migraine and TTH were found to be common types of headaches in adolescents. It was thought that, with the use of modified IHS criteria, the number of undiagnosed patients with headache will decrease.