Prevalence of tension-type headache in adult general population: the PACE study and review of the literature

Abstract

The mean global prevalence of tension-type headache (TTH) in adult is 42 %. To date, there have been no Italian studies on TTH prevalence in the adult general population. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study, called PACE (PArma CEfalea, or ''Headache in Parma''), aimed at detecting the prevalence and clinical features of primary headaches in the city of Parma's adult general population. Crude past-year prevalence for definite TTH was 19.4 % (95 % CI 16.8-21.9), namely 9.0 % (95 % CI 7.1-10.8) for infrequent TTH, 9.8 % (95 % CI 7.9-11.8) for frequent TTH, and 0.6 % (95 % CI 0.1-1) for chronic TTH. Crude prevalence for probable TTH was 2.3 % (95 % CI 1.3-3.3). Our study results indicate a TTH prevalence rate (19.4 %) at the lower limit of data ranges currently available for Western countries, and prevalence rates for infrequent forms (9 %) do not appear much different from those of frequent forms (9.8 %).

Tension-Type Headache: A Life-Course Review

“…In our study, the one-year prevalence of TTH was 11.6% at age 38 years. Most studies [22], including ours, report a greater prevalence of TTH than migraine. Presented in Table 1 is selected epidemiology of tension-type headaches in adults (Table 1).…”

“…Although discrepancies are likely due to many factors, to a reasonable extent methodological differences can account for variability in prevalence estimates [24]. There is evidence that population estimates of TTH prevalence differ for questionnaire-versus interview-based assessments [22,40] . Data from studies examining the relation between TTH and employment status are also equivocal.…”

“…Episodic TTH rates range from 10.8% [47] to 37.3% [40] and chronic TTH rates range from 0.6 % to 3.3% [40]. The cross-study weighted aggregate rate of TTH is 13% [22], substantially higher than that for migraine with aura (4.4%) and chronic migraine (0.5%) [22]. The average one-year prevalence rate is greater in European countries (53%) followed by South America (31.5%), North America (30%), Asia (18.5%), the Middle East (10.3%), and Africa (7%) [40].…”

“…The DMHDS is a prospective and representative cohort study that has collected information faceto-face about headache symptoms longitudinally from age 7 to age 38 years [20]. Given the lack of specific markers of TTH and the common transitions between TTH, migraine, and other headache subtypes, longitudinal prospective studies are required to address gaps in knowledge about the risk factors, specificity, incidence, and course of TTH in adults [5, 21,22]. Our ongoing research is one of a limited number of longitudinal studies that can address these gaps in knowledge.…”

Estudio epidemiológico sobre cefaleas en población universitaria española

“…También, se encontró que las cefaleas provocaban una interferencia en la vida diaria de las personas que las padecen. En general, los resultados hallados en este estudio epidemiológico son consistentes con los encontrados en la investigación epidemiológica, tanto nacional como internacional, sobre cefaleas en lo que se refiere a la prevalencia, distribución, tratamiento del problema y discapacidad (Ferrante et al, 2013;Jensen y Stovner, 2008;Wang et al, 2016;oms, 2011).…”