A standard optometric headache history

Abstract

Many optometric patients present with headache as their chief complaint, or as an ancillary symptom. Since most cases of head pain are associated with few or inconstant physical signs, the key to an accurate diagnosis lies largely in a careful, systematic history. This article provides a scheme by which the busy optometric clinician can expeditiously obtain an incisive and relevant profile of every headache patient, and thereby determine the appropriate mode of management, and referral.