Prevalence of Headache in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 14,275 Patients

Islam, A M Khairul; Alam, Sayeda Sadia; Kundu, Shoumik; Hossan, Tareq; Kamal, Mohammad Amjad; Cavestro, Cinzia

doi:10.3389/fneur.2020.562634

Cited by 78 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Some studies have reported a lower prevalence of headache compared with our study and have not found a relationship between COVID severity and presence of headache. For example, in a meta-analysis of 86 studies (n=14,275), the pooled prevalence of headache was much lower than that of our study (10.1%), with no significant difference in headache prevalence among severe/critically-ill vs. non-severe COVID-19 patents (p=0.78) 28 . Similar to the population in our study, one survey study from Turkey of patients with COVID-19 infection treated in an outpatient setting, found that new-onset headaches occurred in 33% of the population, and more common among those with COVID-19 compared to controls 29 .…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 81%

Neurological manifestations of patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 attending a public hospital in Lima, Peru

Garcia

Choza

Linares

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Objective To determine the prevalence and characteristics of the most common neurological manifestations in Peruvian patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. Methods We conducted a single-center prospective, cross-sectional study at an isolation center functioning as a public acute-care hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in Lima, the capital city of Peru. This was a convenience sample of patients with acute COVID-19 infection and mild-to-moderate respiratory symptoms who presented for hospital admission between September 25 and November 25, 2020. We interviewed participants and collected demographic, medical history and clinical presentation data; all participants underwent a complete physical and neurological examination. Descriptive statistics and prevalence ratios (PR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals and p-values were calculated to explore between-groups differences. Results Of 199 patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 enrolled in this study, 83% presented with at least one neurological symptom (mean symptom duration 8 +/- 6 days). The most common neurological symptoms were headache (72%), hypogeusia or ageusia (41%), hyposmia or anosmia (40%) and dizziness (34%). Only 2.5% of the cohort had an abnormal neurological examination. The majority (42%) had no prior comorbidities. Presence of at least 1 neurological symptom was independently associated with fever, dyspnea, cough, poor appetite, sore throat, chest tightness or diarrhea, but not with comorbid conditions. Conclusions This cross-sectional study found that headaches, and smell and taste dysfunction are common among patients presenting with mild-to-moderate acute COVID-19 in Lima, Peru. International longitudinal studies are needed to determine the long-term neurological sequelae of COVID-19 during the acute and post-infectious period.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 81%

Neurological manifestations of patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 attending a public hospital in Lima, Peru

Garcia

Choza

Linares

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some studies have reported a lower prevalence of headache compared with our study and have not found a relationship between COVID severity and presence of headache. For example, in a meta-analysis of 86 studies ( n = 14,275), the pooled prevalence of headache was much lower than that of our study (10.1%), with no significant difference in headache prevalence among severe/critically-ill vs. non-severe COVID-19 patents ( p = 0.78) [ 28 ]. Similar to the population in our study, one survey study from Turkey of patients with COVID-19 infection treated in an outpatient setting, found that new-onset headaches occurred in 33% of the population, and more common among those with COVID-19 compared to controls [ 29 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Neurological manifestations of patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 attending a public hospital in Lima, Peru

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective To determine the prevalence and characteristics of the most common neurological manifestations in Peruvian patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. Methods We conducted a single-center prospective, cross-sectional study at an isolation center functioning as a public acute-care hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in Lima, the capital city of Peru. This was a convenience sample of patients with acute COVID-19 infection and mild-to-moderate respiratory symptoms who presented for hospital admission between September 25 and November 25, 2020. We interviewed participants and collected demographic, medical history and clinical presentation data; all participants underwent a complete physical and neurological examination. Descriptive statistics and prevalence ratios (PR) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals and p -values were calculated to explore between-groups differences. Results Of 199 patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 enrolled in this study, 83% presented with at least one neurological symptom (mean symptom duration 8 +/− 6 days). The most common neurological symptoms were headache (72%), hypogeusia or ageusia (41%), hyposmia or anosmia (40%) and dizziness (34%). Only 2.5% of the cohort had an abnormal neurological examination. The majority (42%) had no prior comorbidities. Presence of at least 1 neurological symptom was independently associated with fever, dyspnea, cough, poor appetite, sore throat, chest tightness or diarrhea, but not with comorbid conditions. Conclusions This cross-sectional study found that headaches, and smell and taste dysfunction are common among patients presenting with mild-to-moderate acute COVID-19 in Lima, Peru. International longitudinal studies are needed to determine the long-term neurological sequelae of COVID-19 during the acute and post-infectious period.

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“…7 We also included 6 studies published between December 2019 and March 2020 from a previous meta-analysis. 8 We excluded review articles, opinion articles, case-reports, preprint server articles, and studies performed either on populations <18 years old or animal models (See Supplementary Methods and Supplementary Table 1).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of headache disorders on COVID-19 survival: a world population-based analysis

Shapiro

Caronna

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Importance: COVID-19 has not impacted people or countries uniformly. This disparity has prompted investigations to identify clinical and genetic predictors of COVID-19 mortality. Headache, a COVID-19 symptom, has been associated with positive disease prognosis. It is logical to consider whether primary headache disorders, among the most prevalent and disabling diseases globally, may also be associated with reduced viral mortality and thereby may have arisen as adaptive host defences. Objective: To study the relationship between COVID-19 mortality and primary headache disorders. Main outcome measure: Using a generalized additive model regression (GAM), we analysed data across 171 nations to identify variables which impact COVID-19 mortality rates (demographics, national wealth and government effectiveness, pandemic management indexes, latitude of the country's capital, prevalence of headache disorders and other diseases). We performed similar analyses of seasonal influenza mortality. Separately, we meta-analysed studies of COVID-19 inpatient survival reporting headache, using PRISMA guidelines. Results: In the global population-level analysis, we observed that a higher prevalence of headache disorders was associated with a higher COVID-19 mortality rate, and represented the main variable contributing to differences in COVID-19 mortality rates between countries (37.8%; F value=10.68). By contrast, we observed a negative trend between the prevalence of headache disorders and influenza death rates. Controversially, when considering headache as a symptom of COVID-19, in the 48 meta-analysed studies we observed a significantly higher risk ratio of survival (RR:2.178 [1.882-2.520], p<0.0001) among COVID-19 inpatients with headache. Conclusions and Relevance: Headache as a primary disorder is more prevalent in nations with higher COVID-19 mortality, whereas headache as a COVID-19 symptom is associated with enhanced survival. Further studies should clarify whether primary headache disorders represent a risk factor for mortality for COVID-19 or, rather, whether this association reflects evolutionary adaptive processes to enhance survival that, in the case of COVID-19, are insufficiently protective.

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Prevalence of Headache in Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 14,275 Patients

Cited by 78 publications

References 33 publications

Neurological manifestations of patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 attending a public hospital in Lima, Peru

Neurological manifestations of patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 attending a public hospital in Lima, Peru

Neurological manifestations of patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 attending a public hospital in Lima, Peru

The impact of headache disorders on COVID-19 survival: a world population-based analysis

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