Ice cream headache in students and family history of headache: a cross-sectional epidemiological study

Abstract

Headache attributed to ingestion of a cold stimulus (ICHD-3 beta 4.5.1) is also known as ice cream headache (ICH). This cross-sectional epidemiological study included 283 students (10-14-year-olds) attending a grammar school in Germany, their parents (n = 401), and 41 teachers. A self-administered questionnaire was used to analyze the prevalence and characteristics of ICH based on the ICHD classification. Additionally, the association between ICH and other headaches was investigated in students and parents. Prevalence of ICH in students was 62 % without gender difference. In adults, only 36 % of females and 22 % of males reported ICH. There was an increased risk for ICH in students when mother (OR 10.7) or father (OR 8.4) had ICH. Other headaches in parents had no influence on the prevalence of ICH in students. However, in the groups of students and parents itself there was a highly significant association between ICH and other headaches (students: OR 2.4, mothers: OR 2.9, fathers: OR 6.8). There was a decreased risk for ICH when parents and students had no headache at all (OR < 0.4). ICH in students clearly shows a familial disposition by both father and mother. There was also an association between ICH and other headaches within the student and adult groups. The absence of headache history seems to be a protective factor for ICH.

Prevalence and characteristics of headache attributed to ingestion or inhalation of a cold stimulus (HICS): A cross-sectional study

“…(40.6%) (13), but lower than in the recent publication by Zierz et al. (62%) (15). In both previous studies, children of school age were examined, whereas in our study adolescents and adults have been enrolled.…”

“…In the study of Zierz et al. (15) and in the present study, there was no influence of sex on the prevalence of HICS. Analyzing four age-related groups, there were no significant differences between the age groups (Figure 3).…”

“…There are some studies that examine HICS in an experimental setting, in which HICS is provoked by either eating ice cream, drinking cold water or keeping an ice cube pressed to the palate (2–10). Fewer studies explore the characteristics of HICS using questionnaires (5,11–15). All questionnaires concerning epidemiological and clinical features of HICS were conducted in subjects of grammar school age (5,13,15).…”

“…Fewer studies explore the characteristics of HICS using questionnaires (5,11–15). All questionnaires concerning epidemiological and clinical features of HICS were conducted in subjects of grammar school age (5,13,15). In the past, subjects for experimental studies were mainly recruited from a group of participants who suffered from another primary headache disorder (3,7).…”

Increased Blood Flow Velocity in Middle Cerebral Artery and Headache Upon Ingestion of Ice Water

“…The recent International Headache Classification (ICHD-3, 4.5.2) describes this as a “short-lasting frontal or temporal pain, which may be intense, induced in susceptible people by passage of cold material (solid, liquid, or gaseous) over the palate and/or posterior pharyngeal wall” (1). The prevalence of HICS in students is 62% and decreases in adults to 22–36% (3). The experimental stimulation of the trigeminal nerve due to the ingestion of an ice cube, provoked a headache in 17% of healthy adults, in 23–32% of patients with tension-type headache and in 48–74% of patients with migraine (4, 5).…”