Abstract
BackgroundTo examine the association between headaches and epilepsy.MethodsConsecutive adult epileptic patients who went to the outpatient clinic of the Epilepsy Center of PLA General Hospital between February 01, 2012, and May 10, 2013, were recruited into this study. A total of 1109 patients with epilepsy completed a questionnaire regarding headaches.ResultsOverall, 60.1% of the patients (male: 57.2%; female: 63.8%) reported headaches within the last year. The age-weighted prevalence of interictal migraine was 11.7% (male 8.9%, female 15.3%), which is higher than that reported in a large population-based study (8.5%, male 5.4%, female 11.6%) using the same screening questions. The prevalence of postictal headaches was 34.1% (males 32.7%, females 35.2%), and the presence of preictal headaches was 4.5% (males 4.3%, females 5.2%). The prevalence of headache yesterday in the general population was 4.8% (male 3.0%, female 6.6%). Thus, the prevalence of headaches, including migraine, is higher in epileptic patients in China.ConclusionsThe high prevalence of postictal headaches confirms the frequent triggering of a headache by a seizure. A much lower frequency of preictal headaches, a condition in which the real triggering effect of the headache on the seizure might be difficult to prove.
Highlights
To examine the association between headaches and epilepsy
There were no significant differences regarding the type of epileptic syndrome, the aetiology of epilepsy or MRI abnormalities between the patients with and without headaches. (Table 1) The prevalence of headaches in epileptic patients peaked during young adulthood (18–29 years), compared with middle age (40–49 years) in the population (Figure 1)
Preictal headaches Fifty-nine patients had headaches that evolved into seizures, and the headaches were categorised as migraine for 38 of these patients
Summary
Migraine and tension-type headache (TTH), are globally prevalent [1,2,3,4,5]. The prevalence of primary headaches is high in China and is not dissimilar to the world average, according to a previously population-based survey initiated by Lifting The Burden: the Global Campaign against Headache [6]. As an early project within the Global Campaign against Headache [7], an epidemiological study of headaches in China was initiated. The survey found a one-year prevalence of primary headache disorders in adults of 23.8% (males: 17.1%; females: 30.7%) [6], with a very substantial headache-attributed disability. A population-based study of having a headache yesterday, which is almost free from recall bias, shows
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