Headache at high school: clinical characteristics and impact

Abstract

Although migraine (MH) and tension type headache (TTH) are the most common and important causes of recurrent headache in adolescents, they are poorly understood and not recognized by parents and teachers, delaying the first physician evaluation for correct diagnosis and management. The purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge about headache impact among the students of a Communication Private High School in Rimini city, and to evaluate the main different types of headaches interfering with school and social day activities. A self-administered questionnaire interview was given to students of the last 2 years of high school; ten items assessed the headache experience during the prior 12 months, especially during school time: the features and diagnosis of headaches types (based on the 2004 IHS criteria), precipitating factors, disability measured using the migraine disability assessment (MIDAS); therapeutic intervention. Out of the 60 students, 84 % experienced recurrent headache during the last 12 months. 79 % were females, aged 17-20 years; a family history was present in 74 % of headache students, in the maternal line; 45 % of subjects were identified as having MH and 27 % TTH; 25 % had morning headache and 20 % in the afternoon; fatigue, emotional stress and lack of sleep were the main trigger factors for headache, respectively in 86, 50 and 50 % of students; 92 % of headache students could not follow the lessons, could not participate in exercises and physical activity because of the headache; none had consulted a medical doctor and the 90 % of all students had never read, listened or watched television about headache. This study remarks on the need to promote headache educational programs, starting from high school, to increase communication between teachers-family-physician and patient-adolescents, with the goal to have an early appropriate therapeutic intervention, improvement of the quality of life and to prevent long-term headache disease in the adult age.

Impact of headaches on university students in Durban, South Africa

“…Headaches affected the participants’ personal care and lifting of objects. This finding is consistent with that of other studies (Tonini and Frediani 2012 ). Students also report the fear of letting people down whilst experiencing headaches.…”

“…In an American population, 51 % of the participants reported a decrease in school work and productivity by 50 % (Lipton et al 2001 ). In a secondary school in Italy, 92 % of headache sufferers had difficulty in paying attention to lessons, participation in afternoon sport and completing homework tasks given to them (Tonini and Frediani 2012 ). Migraine sufferers missed twice as many days of classes and suffered reduced quality of life (Smitherman et al 2011 ).…”

Prevalence and clinical characteristics of headache in adolescents: A Croatian epidemiological study

“…In our study, more than half of responders never consulted a physician for their headache, which was somewhat lower than in a similar study from Germany, as was the percentage of adolescents taking medication for their headache (9). A study from Italy showed that none of the adolescents suffering from headache had visited a doctor (26). A study from the United States showed that 40% of adolescents visited a health care provider and less than one in five reported taking medications to prevent headache (17).…”

“…The leading self-perceived triggers for headache, especially for migraine, among adolescents were stress, lack of sleep and too much school work (6,26,28,29). In contrast, the statistical analysis in another study identified alcohol and coffee consumption, smoking, neck pain, stress and physical inactivity as risk factors for headache (6).…”

Headaches and the quality of life in adolescents

“…(8) Prevalências próximas das encontradas em estudos recentes. (9)(10)(11)(12) Nesse sentido, esse estudo tem como objetivo analisar, através de uma revisão sistemática, a epidemiologia da cefaleia e sua associação com a qualidade de vida dos adolescentes. Tais resultados podem direcionar futuras intervenções que visem diminuir a incidência de cefaleia no público jovem.…”