Migraine and tension type headache in adolescents at grammar school in Germany – burden of disease and health care utilization

The Journal of Headache and Pain

Research Article

Filipp Filippopulos¹  Andreas Straube¹  Florian Heinen²  Mirjam N Landgraf²  Lucia Albers³  Rüdiger von Kries³ 

[1] Department of Neurology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 81377, Munich, Germany;Department of Paediatric Neurology and Developmental Medicine, Hauner Children’s Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80337, Munich, Germany;Institute of Social Paediatrics and Adolescents Medicine, Division of Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 80337, Munich, Germany;

关键词: Headache;    Children;    Adolescents;    Health care;    Burden of disease;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s10194-015-0534-4

 received in 2015-04-02, accepted in 2015-05-25,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundTension-type headache and migraine are among the most prevalent chronic disorders in children/adolescents. Data on health care utilization for headache in this age group, however, are sparse.MethodsIn 1399 grammar school students (aged 12–19 years) with headache in the last six months in Germany a) the burden of disease for headache (mean intensity, mean frequency in the last three months and PedMIDAS means), b) medical care utilization defined by proportion of students consulting a physician in the last 12 months and/or taking analgetic drugs in the last three months by headache types (migraine and tension-type headache) and by burden of disease were assessed.ResultsPrimary headache substantially impaired daily living activities in adolescents which was mainly related to migraine. Medical care utilization and drug use, however, was low (consulting a physician: 12.0 %, 95 %-CI = [10.3-13.8]; taking analgetic drugs: 29.9 %, 95 %-CI = [27.5-32.4]) - even among students with severe headache (physician consultation: <35 %; taking analgetic drugs: <63 %). Two thirds of students with any headache and 40 % of those with migraine had neither seen a physician nor used analgetic drugs because of their headache in the preceding 12 months.ConclusionsAdolescents with headache might too rarely seek professional help for treatment of headache. Health promotion in adolescents should increase awareness for evidence-based treatment options for headache.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Albers et al. 2015. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.