A Study on Assessment of Frequency, Intensity, Disability and Severity Associated with Primary Headaches

Tinu Merin Thomas ,Bileena Kommattam ,Preethy Mathew Karanath ,Ann Mary Swaroop ,Srinivasa P S Rao

doi:10.7324/japs.2018.8218

Abstract

Introduction: Primary headache is one of the major complaints that accounts for more than 1% of emergency visits worldwide. Currently global prevalence of primary headaches is 47%. However, the disease remains underdiagnosed and undertreated in a majority of suffering population, inspite of its disabling symptoms. Objective: To assess the frequency, intensity, disability and severity of primary headaches. Methodology: The study was designed as a prospective observational study and was carried out for a period of six months from November to April. The survey was performed by means of one to one interview, employing Headache-Attributed Restriction, Disability, Social Handicap and Impaired Participation (HARDSHIP) questionnaire, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and headache diary. After three months, enrolled volunteers were followed up. Results: Amongst the study population (250), 50.4% (126) of the individuals were diagnosed with Tension Type Headache (TTH) and experienced mildly severe, pressing type, bilateral pain. However, migraine (113) was manifested majorly as throbbing/pulsating pain. Assessment of frequency depicted that 22.4% (56) of subjects experienced headache at least for two days in one month. Amongst the migraineurs 24.7% (28) reported an intensity of just bearable pain on the VAS. Conclusion: Quality of life was affected in individuals with headache due to the negligence of this condition in their lives. There is an immense need to counsel and treat such individuals as headache significantly affects their lifestyle.

Highlights

The lifetime prevalence rates for headaches are higher in women when compared with men, of which Tension Type Headache (TTH) accounts for 88% (Oshinaike et al, 2014)
The rationale of this study is to develop comparative data on the frequency, intensity, severity and disability index of different types of Primary headaches using various questionnaires
Quality of life is affected in individuals with headache due to negligence of impact of this condition on their life

Summary

Introduction

Primary headache is one of the major complaints that accounts for more than 1% of emergency visits worldwide. Objective: To assess the frequency, intensity, disability and severity of primary headaches. Results: Amongst the study population (250), 50.4% (126) of the individuals were diagnosed with Tension Type Headache (TTH) and experienced mildly severe, pressing type, bilateral pain. Assessment of frequency depicted that 22.4% (56) of subjects experienced headache at least for two days in one month. Headache disorders are highly under diagnosed or under treated amongst the majority of suffering population, inspite of its disabling symptoms. This may be attributed to the negligence of sufferers in addition to increasing dependency over nonprescription analgesics or consultation limited to outpatient basis. The current global prevalence of primary headache, migraine and tension type headache (TTH) are 47%, 10% and 38% respectively. The lifetime prevalence rates for headaches are higher in women when compared with men, of which TTH accounts for 88% (Oshinaike et al, 2014)

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion