Headache and coping in a female working population

Abstract

Tension-type headache is a common disorder amongst working people and, because of its very high prevalence, represents one of the most costly ailments in modern society. To study the frequency of tension-type headache in a working female population and to investigate how females who have experienced tension-type headache cope with pain compared with the way healthy pain-free subjects cope with stress. A total of 400 females working at a university hospital in Sweden were asked about their experience of headache in the previous 3 months. Instruments used were a specific Headache Questionnaire, the Jalowiec Stress-coping Questionnaire and Coping Strategy Questionnaire. Before the study, approval from the board of directors and the employees' council was obtained. About 257 females (64.3%) answered the questionnaire and 78% of them (n = 199) reported that they had experienced headache in the previous 3 months. About 90% of the participants had never had an appointment with a doctor concerning headache and 57% reported a relationship between stress and headache. Regarding pain-coping strategy, increased pain behaviour was the most frequent strategy used. With regard to stress-coping style, a significant difference in the use of emotive style was found between females reporting headache and females not reporting headache. The results indicate that prevention programmes emphasizing stress management and coping may influence the experience of tension-type headache.