While the prevalences of migraine and tension-type headache are comparable with those in Europe and the United States, a remarkably high percentage of the population of Georgia have headache on >/=15 days/month. This study demonstrates the importance of socioeconomic factors in a developing country and unmasks the unmet needs of people with headache disorders.

We present the first questionnaire in German language including 3 most common primary headaches for use in epidemiological research.

We asked whether attempts to introduce headache services in poor countries would be futile on grounds of cost and unsustainability. Using data from a population-based survey in the Republic of Georgia, an exemplary poor country with limited health care, and against the background of headache-attributed burden, we report on willingness to pay (WTP) for effective headache treatment. Consecutive households were visited in areas of Tbilisi (urban) and Kakheti (rural), together representative of Georgian habitation. Biologically unrelated adults were interviewed by medical residents using a structured ICHD-II-based diagnostic questionnaire, the MIDAS questionnaire and SF-36. The bidding-game method was employed to assess WTP. Of 1,145 respondents, 50.0% had episodic headache (migraine and/or tension-type headache) and 7.6% had headache on ≥15 days/month, which was not further diagnosed. MIDAS scores were higher in people with headache on ≥15 days/month (mean 11.2) than in those with episodic headache (mean 7.0; P = 0.004). People with headache had worse scores in all SF-36 sub-scales than those without, but no differences were found between headache types. Almost all (93%) respondents with headache reported WTP averaging USD 8 per month for effective headache treatment. WTP did not correlate with headache type or frequency, or with MIDAS or SF-36 scores. Headache is common and headache-attributed burden is high in Georgia, with a profound impact on HRQoL. Even those less affected indicated WTP for effective treatment, if it were available, that would on average cover costs, which locally are low. Headache services in a poor country are potentially sustainable.

We present a study of the general-population prevalence of cluster headache in the Republic of Georgia and discuss the advantages and challenges of different methodological approaches. In a community-based survey, specially trained medical residents visited 500 adjacent households in the capital city, Tbilisi, and 300 households in the eastern rural area of Kakheti. They interviewed all (n = 1145) biologically unrelated adult occupants using a previously validated questionnaire. The household responses rates were 92% in Tbilisi and 100% in Kakheti. The survey identified 32 persons with possible cluster headache, who were then personally interviewed by one of two headache-experienced neurologists. Cluster headache was confirmed in one subject. The prevalence of cluster headache was therefore estimated to be 87/100,000 (95% confidence interval < 258/100,000). We used a conservative approach, which has an obvious advantage of high-quality data collection, but is very demanding of manpower and time.

In a pilot phase of a survey of the prevalence of primary headache disorders in the Republic of Georgia, we validated a Georgian language questionnaire for migraine (MIG), tension-type headache (TTH), MIG+TTH and trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TAC). A population-based sample of 186 people with headache completed the questionnaire and were blindly examined by one of two headache experts. The questionnaire diagnoses were: MIG 49, TTH 76, MIG+TTH 45 and TAC 16. The physicians’diagnoses were: MIG 59, TTH 77, MIG+TTH 34, TAC 2 and “symptomatic headache” in 14 subjects. Sensitivity and specificity for MIG were 0.75 and 0.96, for TTH 0.79 and 0.86, and for MIG+TTH 0.61 and 0.84 respectively. Of 16 TAC diagnoses, the physicians confirmed cluster headache in two patients only. The questionnaire can be utilised to investigate the prevalence of MIG and of TTH. It offers preliminary screening only for TAC, which should be confirmed during a face to face examination.