Tension-type Headache in Adolescents and Adults: A Population Based Study of 33,764 Twins

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the 1-year-period prevalence of tension-type headache in a large population based sample. The study population included 33,764 twins aged 12-41 years old from the population based new Danish Twin Registry. They received a posted headache questionnaire and the response rate was 83.5%. The self-reported 1-year-period prevalence of tension-type headache was 86.0%; 78.9% among men and 92.5% among women. The 1-year-period prevalence of infrequent episodic, frequent episodic and chronic tension-type headache was 63.5, 21.6 and 0.9%, respectively. Frequent episodic and chronic tension-type headache was significantly more frequent in women than men. The prevalence of frequent episodic tension-type headache increased slightly in men until age 39 then it declined, while it increased about 20% point in women from age 12 years to age 20-39 years old and then it declined. Congruently, the prevalence of chronic tension-type headache increased until age 39 and declined thereafter in both sexes. Chronic tension-type headache is rare in persons 12-14 years old. These effects were confirmed by age trends of the different subtypes of tension-type headache using a regression model. The prevalence of migraine varied from 7.0 to 16.8% in men and from 8.2 to 31.0% in women. It increased from age 12 to 34 years and then declined. The risk and frequency of tension-type headache was significantly higher in those with migraine than those who had never had migraine. Future large longitudinal follow-up studies are required.

Tension–type headache in 40–year-olds: a Danish population–based sample of 4000

“…The restriction of the present data to 40 years old most likely causes the last-year prevalence of tension-type headache to be or be near peak values. The prevalence of frequent episodic and chronic tension-type headache was higher than in a previous Danish survey on twins [12]. The twins were from all of Denmark, while the present study was conducted in Copenhagen County, so it may reflect differences in rural and urban areas, but more likely it reflects a different age composition, i.e., the twins were age 12-41 years old.…”

“…The observed agreement rate is 0.94 and Kappa is 0.87 (95% confidence limits: 0.85, 0.90), if the results from the two studies are combined [10,11]. The present and the previous survey were conducted in the same geographical area [10][11][12]. However, the validity of this method may change when applied to different populations.…”

“…Prevalence and sex ratio Table 4 shows recent prevalence studies of tension-type headache in the general population from industrialised countries [5][6][7][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. The prevalence of tension-type headache was high compared to other studies not conducted in Denmark.…”

“…The high prevalence of tension-type headache in the present study is not likely to be explained by migraine filled in as tension-type headache, as the participants reported accurately on both tension-type headache and migraine [10][11][12]. The different studies consistently showed a higher prevalence of tension-type headache among women than men [5][6][7][12][13][14][15][16][17]. The peak prevalence of tension-type headache seems to be age 30-39 years and it then declines with age [5,7,13,15,17].…”

Incidence and Risk Factors of Chronic Daily Headache in Young Adolescents: A School Cohort Study

“…In a similar vein, a cross-sectional twin study showed the prevalence of CTTH increased in adolescent girls beginning at age 15, whereas it remained unchanged in adolescent boys. 24 Whether sex hormones contribute to this phenomenon is unknown, and further investigation is warranted.…”