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. 2008 Feb;58(547):102-4.
doi: 10.3399/bjgp08X264072.

GPs' classification of headache: is primary headache underdiagnosed?

David Kernick  1 , Sally Stapley, William Hamilton
Affiliations

GPs' classification of headache: is primary headache underdiagnosed?

David Kernick et al. Br J Gen Pract. 2008 Feb.

Abstract

With a high economic, social, and personal burden, headache remains an important health problem. How UK GPs diagnose headache in the UK is unknown. In this study, a large primary care database was used and diagnostic categories were described for 91121 adult patients with new-onset headache, that is, patients who had not consulted for headache in the previous year. Seventy per cent of headaches were not given a diagnostic label, 24% were diagnosed as primary, and 6% as secondary headaches. It is suggested that GPs' difficulty in diagnosing headache presentations contributes to the high level of morbidity and unmet need in this disease.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diagnosis of primary headache (cluster, migraine, tension-type), secondary or undifferentiated headache with age as a percentage of total cases. (n = 91 121).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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