An epidemiologic study of headaches in brazilian schoolchildren with a focus on pain frequency

Abstract

-The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and frequency of the headaches in Brazilian schoolchildren. A cross-sectional study was conducted between March and November 2004 in São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo State, Brazil. A sample of 5,232 children from elementary schools was selected using proportional stratified sampling method. To collect data, a questionnaire was handed out in the schools to the schoolchildren to be answered by parents or guardians. From the total answers received, 84.2% reported headache complaints during the last year. There were significant complaint differences between males and females. Females were reported as having more frequent headaches than males with daily ones occurring twice as many times. A greater headache frequency was also reported for increasing age. The study has shown that headache prevalence was high, with a predominantly higher frequency (monthly, weekly and daily) with girls and older age groups.KEY WORDS: headache, prevalence, schoolchildren. Um estudo epidemiológico de cefaléias em escolares brasileiros, com foco sobre a frequência da dorResumo -O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a prevalência e frequência de cefaléia em escolares brasileiros. Um estudo transversal foi conduzido entre Março e Novembro de 2004 em São José do Rio Preto, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Uma amostra de 5.232 crianças das escolas foi selecionada utilizando método de amostragem estratificada proporcional. Para a coleta dos dados, um questionário foi entregue nas escolas aos estudantes para ser respondida pelos pais e/ou responsáveis. Do total de respostas recebidas, 84,2% relataram cefaléia durante o último ano. Houve diferenças significativas na frequência da queixa de cefaléia entre meninos e meninas. As meninas relataram cefaléias mais frequentes do que os meninos, com prevalência de cefaléias diárias duas vezes maior em meninas. Uma maior frequência de cefaléia foi também relatada com o aumento da idade. O estudo demonstrou que a prevalência de cefaléia foi alta, com uma maior frequência (mensais, semanais e diárias) em meninas e no grupo etário mais velho. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: cefaléia, prevalência, escolares. Headaches are one of the most common symptoms during childhood and are one of the main complaints in consulting rooms. In many cases the headaches are long lasting and frequent enough to warrant special care.Since the classic study by Bille 1 , in Sweden, in 1962, several epidemiological studies were undertaken worldwide using the most different types of methodology. These studies suggested a high prevalence of headaches among children and adolescents at varying rates of 20% 2 at the age of 5 and up to 97% in older children and adolescents [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] . This wide range in the estimate prevalence from several studies results from a number of factors, among which are methodological procedures and age group of the studied population. In one of the few studies done on a Brazilian population, Barea et al.12 evaluated 538 students between the ages of...

Prevalence of headache among children and adolescents in Shanghai, China

“…[14][15][16] Although the reported prevalence of headaches among children and adolescents varied from 1.4% to 97% in different countries, 3,4 most showed a high prevalence, especially in studies conducted after 2004 using the ICHD-2 classification. 3 The lower prevalence seen in our study may be due to the fact that we only asked about headaches in the past 3 months, not lifetime prevalence.…”

“…2 Studies have shown that the prevalence of headaches among children and adolescents varies from 1.4% to 97%. 3,4 Among adolescents, the estimated prevalence of migraine ranges from 6.1% to 22%. The reported prevalence of tension-type headaches (TTH) in adolescents also varies greatly (0.9-18%).…”

Neuroticism prospectively predicts pain among adolescents: Results from a nationally representative sample

“…There is support for assessing pain frequency within broad-based epidemiologic adult, adolescent, and child cohorts [19,21–23]. In the current study, pain was measured by two available items, assessing headache and stomachache frequency in the past year.…”

Prevalence of headache and its interference in the activities of daily living in female adolescent students

“…It is usually underdiagnosed and undertreated, even though it should be seen as a warning sign ( 5 ) . It is considered a common affection among children and adolescents ( 3 , 6 ) , and its prevalence in this population ranges from 9.7 to 78.2% ( 5 , 7 - 9 ) , although this variation may be due to methodological differences in the studies ( 6 , 10 ) .…”