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Prevalence of Primary Chronic Headache in a Population-Based Sample of 30- to 44-Year-Old Persons

2008; Karger Publishers; Volume: 30; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1159/000116244

1423-0208

Ragnhild Berling Grande, Kjersti Aaseth, Pål Gulbrandsen, Christofer Lundqvist, Michael Bjørn Russell,

Sympathectomy and Hyperhidrosis Treatments

<i>Background:</i> Prevalence data on primary chronic headache in the general population based on clinical interviews by physicians are lacking. <i>Methods:</i> In a cross-sectional epidemiological survey, a random sample of 30,000 persons from Akershus County, aged 30–44 years, were sent a postal questionnaire. Those with self-reported chronic headache within the last month and/or year were invited to a semi-structured diagnostic interview and a physical and neurological examination conducted by 2 neurological residents with experience in headache diagnostics. The diagnoses were made according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edition, 2004, and relevant revisions. <i>Results:</i> The questionnaire response rate was 71%, and the participation rate of the interview was 74%. The 1-year prevalence of primary chronic headache was 2.9%. Chronic tension-type headache (CTTH) and probable chronic tension-type headache (pCTTH) had 1-year prevalences of 1.6 and 1.2%, respectively. The prevalences of other primary chronic headaches were: chronic migraine (CM) 0.01%, probable CM 0.09% and other subtypes 0.04%. Co-occurrence of migraine was frequent, as 42% with CTTH and 55% with pCTTH had migraine. <i>Conclusion:</i> Primary chronic headache is prevalent in the general population. The majority has CTTH or pCTTH, while CM and other primary chronic headaches are rare.