Epidemiology of Headache in an English District

Boardman, Helen F.; Thomas, Elaine; Croft, P; Millson, David

doi:10.1046/j.1468-2982.2003.00468.x

Cited by 97 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Details of the baseline survey have been reported elsewhere [1] . In brief, a random sample of 5,000 adults aged 18 years and over was selected from the practice registers of fi ve general practices in North Staffordshire, UK, 1,000 from each practice.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a recent study, we reported on the prevalence of headache in the adult general population, and noted that it declined at older ages [1] . This fi nding parallels reports of a wide number of other pain conditions declining in frequency with age [2,3] , but the size of the decline was greater than reported for other painful conditions such as back pain [4] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This suggested to us that headache might present a pertinent example to investigate in greater depth as to the reasons why pain might decline with age. We have identifi ed the following hypotheses to investigate in our own data, and to discuss along with other explanations from the literature: (1) The decline in prevalence with age is due to the elimination of work-related factors, such as stress, through retirement. other health problems with increasing age results in reduced reporting of headache.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Why Do Older People Report Fewer Headaches?

Boardman¹,

Croft²

2005

Gerontology

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Background: We have previously confirmed a clear decline in headache prevalence with increasing age. This parallels the pattern in other painful conditions but the age-related decline in prevalence is greater for headache. Objective: To investigate whether the decline in headache prevalence with age was associated with the elimination of work-related factors, increases in other health problems or concomitant use of pain-relieving medicines. We discuss these and other possible explanations from the literature. Methods: Cross-sectional postal survey to a random sample of 5,000 adults with follow-up by (i) consultations with general practitioners and prescriptions issued during the 12 months subsequent to the survey and (ii) a follow-up postal survey at 12 months. Results: Headache prevalence was similar in working and retired respondents within age strata. Headache sufferers were more likely to consult their general practitioner for any reason (excluding headache) compared with non-sufferers and this was true for each age group. Headache sufferers were also more likely to be frequent consulters compared with non-sufferers in all except the oldest age group (age 66 years and over) where there was no difference. There was a clear increase in prescriptions for analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs issued with increasing age. There was no difference in the percentage of daily medication users among headache sufferers compared with non-sufferers. Conclusion: Neither retirement from work nor the presence of other health problems account for the decline in headache prevalence with age. Whilst the data on concomitant use of pain-relieving medicines suggest this is also not a major factor in the age-related decline, the high use of such medicines in older age groups means we cannot rule out a link. Evidence from the literature suggests that there may be a number of age-related factors involved including changes in reporting of headache, biochemical changes, and the development of strategies to prevent and manage headaches.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Why Do Older People Report Fewer Headaches?

Boardman¹,

Croft²

2005

Gerontology

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“…Research suggests that women have more frequent, longer lasting, and more severe headaches than men [15] although some studies show that Pain intensity and attack frequency tend to be similar in men and women [16].…”

Section: Clinical Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migraine in Women: What Specificities? A Review

Boubacar¹,

Seck²,

Assadeck³

et al. 2017

J Women's Health Care

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The migraine is a chronic neurological disease that affects 10 to 12% of the population, with a clear preponderance females and this from puberty. The women report a longer attack duration. Presence and severity of associated symptoms, such as photophobia, phonophobia, nausea, vomiting, and cutaneous allodynia are more prevalent in women. Some clinical forms are well described as catamenial migraine. Several comorbidities have been described in migraine women. Among these diseases associated with migraine: vascular diseases, asthma, allergies, epilepsy, restless legs syndrome, and various chronic pain syndromes and psychiatric disorders. Treatment of migraine in women raises the difficulty of managing seizures and during pregnancy and the period of menstruation. The therapeutic difference mainly concerns menstrual migraine. In women with migraine, it is therefore recommended to be particularly attentive to comorbidities, the presence of which significantly increases the risk of arterial vascular events. Migraine is very common with a particular impact on the quality of life of women. These various specificities and their evolution over time must lead to continuous training of general practitioners, other specialists in women's health including gynecologists in order to reduce the morbidity of the disease by better prevention of crises through the harmonization of research by scientific societies from different continents.

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“…For example in the field of pain research, numerous population-based surveys suggest that taking part in research is strongly linked to both age and gender (Walsh, 1994;Papageorgiou et al, 1995;Jinks et al, 2002;Boardman et al, 2003). Authors who examine non-response more closely have reported that response is also related to such things as social class (Tickle et al, 1996;Hill et al, 1997) and health status; in a population-based survey of the prevalence of low back pain, responders to the survey were found to have a higher consultation rate for back pain in the year subsequent to the survey t han those who did not respond (7.1% cf.…”

Section: Generalizability Of Study Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%