Headache among medical students in Bukovina Region of Ukraine

Abstract

Aim: To study the prevalence of headache among medical students in Bukovina region of Ukraine. Introduction: Headaches are the most prevalent neurological disorder and among the most frequent symptoms amoung medical students. Headache disorder is a major public health issue and is a great burden for a person, health care system, and a society. Identifying of headache risk factors is necessary for treatment and effective prevention. Methods: A cross sectional study has been conducted in duration from 30th of January to the end of March 2017. 146 students of Bukovinian State Medical University aged 19–26 years were interviewed by using specially designed questionnaires. All students with a headache who completed questionnaires were examined by neurologist. The type of headache was determined according to the diagnostic criteria of the classification of the International Headache Society, 2003. Results: Our study has found that headaches bother 121 (82.8%) students. Among respondents periodic headache was observed in 71.9% (105 students). 16 (10.1%) students experienced chronic headaches that bothered them more than 15 days a month. Among girls the prevalence of headache was significantly higher than among men – 62.1% and 38.9% respectively. Among the students the most frequent headache (58.7%) was tension headache, 9.1% of respondents had migraine headache, 32.2% had other types of headaches. According to the students' responses the most prevalent causes of headache were stress – 36%, sleep disturbance – 20%, and weather changes – 14%. The other causes included skipping meals – 11%, tea or coffee overdrink – 8%, alcohol consumption – 6%, and menstrual cycle disturbances in 2% students. Conclusion: By means of the research there was found a high prevalence of headaches among medical students. There was determined the prevalence of primary cephalgias, namely, migraine without aura and episodic tension-type headaches. There was shown a lack of awareness of students about the causes of headache reflected in inadequate symptomatic treatment in most cases.