Chronic daily headache in a paediatric headache centre

The prevalence and the clinical features of chronic daily headache (CDH) were studied in 968 children and adolescents observed during a period of one year in the Headache Centre of the Anna Meyer Paediatric Hospital of Florence. Nine hundred and fortyfour patients (97.52%) had primary headache according to ICHD-II, 24 subjects had secondary headache and 56 patients had CDH (5.93% of primary headaches). The mean age of subjects with CDH was higher than general (13.5 vs. 11.5 years), with a female preponderance (69.6% vs. 30.4%). According to the ICHD-II, headaches were classified as chronic migraine in 10 patients (1.5.2 ICHD-II), chronic tension-type headache in 36 (2.3 ICHD-II), new daily persistent headache in 8 (4.8 ICHD-II) and 2 patients reported mixed pattern (chronic migraine+chronic tension type headache). Medication overuse was not implicated in our patients.     

Facial pain in a neurological tertiary care centre--evaluation of the International Classification of Headache Disorders

The aim of this study was to examine the diagnostic spectrum of facial pain and to evaluate the clinical features relevant to the differential diagnosis in a neurological tertiary care centre. This is the first investigation comparing the first with the second edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-I, ICHD-II) in consecutively referred patients comprising a broad spectrum of disorders without restricting the inclusion to certain diagnoses. Studying 97 consecutive patients referred for facial pain, we found trigeminal neuralgia or other types of cranial neuralgia in 38% and 39% according to ICHD-I and ICHD-II, respectively; persistent idiopathic facial pain was diagnosed in 27% and 21%, respectively. The proportion of patients who could not be classified was 24% in ICHD-I and 29% in ICHD-II. Six per cent of the patients had cluster headache or chronic paroxysmal hemicrania, the remaining 5% had various other disorders. The agreement between ICHD-I and ICHD-II was very good to perfect. In ICHD-II, sensitivity and specificity were similar to ICHD-I, the specificity and negative predictive value were imrpoved in single features of trigeminal neuralgia, but were widely unchanged in persistent idiopathic facial pain. The number of patients who could not be classified was larger in ICHD-II than in ICHD-I. Modifying the diagnostic criteria for different types of facial pain, in particular changes in the criteria of persistent idiopathic facial pain, might be helpful in reducing the number of patients with unclassifiable facial pain.     

Agreement of self-reported migraine with ICHD-II criteria in the Women's Health Study

Migraine is a common headache disorder that is increasingly being evaluated in population-based studies. The American Migraine Study II and the Women's Health Study (WHS) have successfully used 'modified' International Classification of Headache Disorders, 1st edition (ICHD-I) criteria to classify patients. Investigating agreement of self-reported migraine in large epidemiological studies with the criteria of the revised version [International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edition (ICHD-II)] is sparse. We have investigated 1675 women with self-reported migraine participating in the WHS, who provided additional information on a detailed migraine questionnaire that allowed us to apply all ICHD-II criteria. In this sub-cohort, we confirmed self-reported migraine in > 87% of women when applying the ICHD-II criteria for migraine (71.5%) and probable migraine without aura (16.2%). In conclusion, there is excellent agreement between self-reported migraine and ICHD-II-based migraine classification in the WHS. In addition, questionnaire-based migraine assessment according to full ICHD-II criteria in large population-based studies is feasible.     

Psychosocial factors in children and adolescents with migraine and tension-type headache: a controlled study and review of the literature

We investigated 341 children and adolescents to evaluate the relevance of psychosocial factors in idiopathic headache. According to the criteria of the International Headache Society, 151 subjects had migraine and 94 had tension-type headache (TTH). Ninety-six subjects were headache-free controls. Psychosocial factors covered family and housing conditions, school problems, relations in the peer group, and several other items. We found that migraine patients did not differ from headache-free controls. Patients with TTH more often had divorced parents than the headache-free controls, and they had fewer peer relations than migraineurs and controls. In addition, migraine patients were significantly more often absent from school due to headache. All other psychosocial factors failed to discriminate between the three study groups. In conclusion, this controlled study in children and adolescents suggests that migraine is not related to family and housing conditions, school situation, or peer relations, whereas TTH is associated with a higher rate of divorced parents and fewer peer relations.     

Self-report of headache in children and adolescents in Germany: possibilities and confines of questionnaire data for headache classification

The aim of this study was to estimate prevalence rates of different types of primary headache in 9- to 14-year-old children in a population-based sample. Case definition was based on International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD) criteria. The possibility of implementing these criteria within a questionnaire format, which has been regarded as problematic by some authors, was the main focus of the study. A questionnaire was sent to children and adolescents in 6400 randomly drawn families in southern Lower Saxony. Valid questionnaires were returned by 61.1% of the sample. The overall prevalence rate for tension-type headache (TTH) (criteria C and D) was 17.6% and for migraine (criteria B, C and D) 13.1%. Despite the use of abridged criteria for headache classification, 35.5% of all children reported headache that could not be classified using the ICHD criteria. The response behaviour of these children indicated that they had difficulties reporting symptoms that were defining for migraine or TTH. The classifiability of headache does not seem to be dependent on age or frequency of headache, but rather on the number of 'I don't know' answers given regarding headache characteristics. It is likely that studies reporting prevalence rates that are limited to migraine and or TTH diagnoses underestimate the true prevalence of headache in children and adolescents.     

Chronische Migr?ne und Kopfschmerz bei Medikamenten��bergebrauch

The first International classification of headache disorders (ICHD-I) described migraine as a recurring headache disorder manifesting in attacks lasting 4-72 h. The headache frequency was not considered in these first diagnostic criteria of migraine. Thus, a chronic migraine with at least 15 migraine days per month was only included in the ICHD-II in 2004. Meanwhile, the diagnosis of chronic daily headache and transformed migraine had been established in the USA. The term transformed migraine describes the transformation of an episodic migraine into a chronic one, whether medication overuse had been present or not. Up till now a widely accepted definition of chronic migraine and medication overuse headache has not been established due to different views. An overview of the evolution of the diagnostic criteria for both headache disorders in recent years is provided.     

The bidirectional temporal relationship between headache and affective disorders: longitudinal data from the HUNT studies

BackgroundFew prospective population-based studies have evaluated the bidirectional relationship between headache and affective disorder. The aim of this large-scale population-based follow-up study was to investigate whether tension-type headache (TTH) and migraine had increased risk of developing anxiety and depression after 11 years, and vice-versa.MethodsData from the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) conducted in 2006-2008 (baseline) and 2017-2019 (follow-up) were used to evaluate the bidirectional relationship between migraine and TTH and anxiety and depression measured by Hospital Anxiety and depression Scale (HADS). The population at risk at baseline consisted of respectively 18,380 persons with HADS score ≤ 7 and 13,893 without headache, and the prospective data was analyzed by Poisson regression.ResultsIn the multi-adjusted model, individuals with HADS anxiety (HADS-A) and depression scores (HADS-D) of ≥8 at baseline nearly doubled the risk of migraine (Risk rations (RR) between 1.8 and 2.2) at follow-up whereas a 40% increased risk (RR 1.4) was found for TTH. Vice versa, the risk of having HADS-A and HADS-D scores of ≥8 at follow-up were increased for TTH (RR 1.3) and migraine (RR 1.3-1.6) at baseline. Migraine with aura was associated with 81% (RR 1.81, 95% 1.52-2.14) increased risk of HADS-A score of ≥8.ConclusionsIn this large-scale population-based follow-up study we found a bidirectional relationship between anxiety and depression and migraine and TTH. For anxiety, this bidirectional association was slightly more evident for migraine than TTH.     

Efficacy of multidisciplinary treatment in a tertiary referral headache centre

Despite the high prevalence of headaches, multidisciplinary headache clinics are few and their efficacy still needs validation. We set out to describe the procedures, characterize the patients and evaluate the treatment results in Danish Headache Centre. All clinical records for patients discharged in 2002 were systematically reviewed. Diagnoses were classified in accordance with ICHD-II. Outcome results were analysed with respect to headache diagnoses, frequency, intensity, absence from work and medication use. Five hundred and five patients were included and 336 were eligible for the study. Mean age was 46 years and male/female ratio 1:2.4. For patients without medication overuse headache (MOH) a reduction in headache frequency (P<0.01) and intensity (P<0.05) was seen for frequent episodic and chronic tension-type headache (TTH), migraine, cluster and other headaches. No reduction was seen in post-traumatic headache. Absence from work decreased significantly for migraine (P<0.001) and frequent episodic TTH (P<0.05). For patients with MOH a reduction in headache frequency was seen for TTH and migraine (P<0.001). A specialized headache centre is valuable in treatment of patients with complex headache disorders.     

One-year prevalence and the impact of migraine and tension-type headache in Turkey: a nationwide home-based study in adults

Several studies have shown that the prevalence of migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) varied between different geographical regions. Therefore, there is a need of a nationwide prevalence study for headache in our country, located between Asia and Europe. This nationwide study was designed to estimate the 1-year prevalence of migraine and TTH and analyse the clinical features, the impact as well as the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the participant households in Turkey. We planned to investigate 6,000 representative households in 21 cities of Turkey; and a total of 5,323 households (response rate of 89%) aged between 18 and 65 years were examined for headache by 33 trained physicians at home on the basis of the diagnostic criteria of the second edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-II). The electronically registered questionnaire was based on the headache features, the associated symptoms, demographic and socio-economic situation and history. Of 5,323 participants (48.8% women; mean age 35.9 ± 12 years) 44.6% reported recurrent headaches during the last 1 year and 871 were diagnosed with migraine at a prevalence rate of 16.4% (8.5% in men and 24.6% in women), whereas only 270 were diagnosed with TTH at a prevalence rate of 5.1% (5.7% in men and 4.5% in women). The 1-year prevalence of probable migraine was 12.4% and probable TTH was 9.5% additionally. The rate of migraine with aura among migraineurs was 21.5%. The prevalence of migraine was highest among 35–40-year-old women while there were no differences in age groups among men and in TTH overall. More than 2/3 of migraineurs had ever consulted a physician whereas only 1/3 of patients with TTH had ever consulted a physician. For women, the migraine prevalence was higher among the ones with a lower income, while among men, it did not show any change by income. Migraine prevalence was lower in those with a lower educational status compared to those with a high educational status. Chronic daily headache was present in 3.3% and the prevalence of medication overuse headache was 2.1% in our population. There was an important impact of migraine with a monthly frequency of 5.9 ± 6, and an attack duration of 35.1 ± 72 h, but only 4.9% were on prophylactic treatment. The one-year prevalence of migraine estimated as 16.4% was similar or even higher than world-wide reported migraine prevalence figures and identical to a previous nation-wide study conducted in 1998, whereas the TTH prevalence was much lower using the same methodology with the ICHD-II criteria.     

Clinical features of primary headache in children: a multicentre hospital-based study in France

The aim of this study was to evaluate the concordance between clinical diagnosis and the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edn (ICHD-II) in children and adolescents with primary headaches. This 6-month prospective multicentre study of 486 patients (mean 9.8 +/- 3.1 years; 52.6% girls) assessed the headache features through a structured questionnaire. In 398 patients with a single type of headache, headaches were bilateral (78.1%), frontal (62.4%), pulsatile (56.1%), with associated symptoms in 84.4%. The most frequently assigned diagnoses were migraine without aura (50.8%), probable migraine (14.1%), migraine with aura (11.1%) and frequent episodic tension-type headache (7.5%). For most of the diagnostic categories, the consistency of the investigator's diagnosis with the ICHD-II criteria was good (kappa > 0.6 and < or = 0.8) or excellent (kappa > 0.8). We conclude that migraine was predominant with regard to headache diagnoses repartition and that the ICHD-II seems usable in practice for evaluation of primary headache in French children and adolescents.     

Classification and clinical features of headache patients: an outpatient clinic study from China

This study aimed to analyze and classify the clinical features of headache in neurological outpatients. A cross-sectional study was conducted consecutively from March to May 2010 for headache among general neurological outpatients attending the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University. Personal interviews were carried out and a questionnaire was used to collect medical records. Diagnosis of headache was according to the International classification of headache disorders, 2nd edition (ICHD-II). Headache patients accounted for 19.5% of the general neurology clinic outpatients. A total of 843 (50.1%) patients were defined as having primary headache, 454 (27%) secondary headache, and 386 (23%) headache not otherwise specified (headache NOS). For primary headache, 401 (23.8%) had migraine, 399 (23.7%) tension-type headache (TTH), 8 (0.5%) cluster headache and 35 (2.1%) other headache types. Overall, migraine patients suffered (1) more severe headache intensity, (2) longer than 6 years of headache history and (3) more common analgesic medications use than TTH ones (p < 0.001).TTH patients had more frequent episodes of headaches than migraine patients, and typically headache frequency exceeded 15 days/month (p < 0.001); 22.8% of primary headache patients were defined as chronic daily headache. Almost 20% of outpatient visits to the general neurology department were of headache patients, predominantly primary headache of migraine and TTH. In outpatient headaches, more attention should be given to headache intensity and duration of headache history for migraine patients, while more attention to headache frequency should be given for the TTH ones.     

Tension Type Headache in Adolescence and Childhood: Where Are We Now?

Tension type headache (TTH) is a primary headache disorder considered common in children and adolescents. It remains debatable whether TTH and migraine are separate biological entities. This review summarizes the most recent literature of TTH with regards to children and adolescents. Further studies of TTH are needed to develop a biologically based classification system that may be facilitated through understanding changes in the developing brain during childhood and adolescence.     

Headache prevalence among adolescents--the German DMKG headache study

This population-based cross-sectional study examined the 3-month prevalence of headache, migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) among adolescents aged 12-15 years in Germany. Students (n = 3324) from 20 schools completed a questionnaire on general and headache-specific pain which included a sociodemographic module. The headache-specific questionnaire complied with the respective revised criteria of the International Headache Society (IHS). 'Modified criteria' changed the item 'duration' in migraine (>30 min instead of > 4 h). The overall 3-month prevalence of headache was 69.4% (boys 59.5%, girls 78.9%), with 4.4% of the adolescents suffering from frequent (>or=14 days/3 months) and severe (grade 8-10 on a 10-point visual analogue scale) headache and 1.4% (boys 0.9%, girls 1.9%) from headache >or= 15 days/month. The 3-month prevalence of migraine was 2.6% (boys 1.6%, girls 3.5%) applying strict IHS criteria and 6.9% (boys 4.4%, girls 9.3%) with modified criteria; 12.6% (boys 8.3%, girls 16.7%) suffered from probable migraine, 0.07% fulfilled the criteria for chronic migraine, 4.5% (boys 4.6%, girls 4.3%) suffered from TTH, 0.2% from chronic TTH and 15.7% (boys 14.5%, girls 16.9%) from probable TTH. Headache and migraine were more common in girls than in boys and in teenagers, especially in girls, aiming at higher education. Recurrent headache and primary headache disorders are common complaints among German adolescents, especially among girls.     

Characteristic and overlapping features of migraine and tension-type headache

OBJECTIVE: This epidemiological survey was conducted to investigate comprehensive characteristic and overlapping features of migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) disorders classified based on International Classification of Headache Disorders-II. METHODS: The stratified cohort of this study was composed of 2504 schoolchildren aged 10 to 17 years. A 38-item questionnaire inquiring all characteristic features of primary headache syndromes mandatory for classification was applied to selected 483 children with recurrent headache in the last 6 months. RESULTS: Migraine was diagnosed in 227 (47.0%) of 483 children and TTH in 154 (31.9%). Out of 125 children with definite migraine, 73 (58.4%) reported tension-type symptoms and 94 (68.1%) of 138 children with definite TTH reported migraine-type symptoms. Pressing pain (21%) and lack of aggravation of pain by physical activity (34%) were the major tension-type features in patients with migraine. Throbbing quality (43%) and aggravation by physical activity (30%) determined the main migraine-type features in patients with TTH. CONCLUSION: The frequent co-occurrence of migraine and TTH symptoms suggests the presence of a common pathogenesis.     

Decreasing the minimal duration of the attack to 1 hour: is this sufficient to increase the sensitivity of the ICHD-II diagnostic criteria for migraine in childhood?

Abstract We applied the second edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-II) in 417 children (age range, 2–12 years) with chronic headaches attending a pediatric headache clinic. The initial diagnosis was made according to the ICHD-II while the final diagnosis was, based on the longitudinal intuitive clinical diagnosis (LICD), deemed to be the gold standard. The diagnosis of migraine without aura had a sensitivity of 52%, a specificity of 100% and a positive predictive value of 100%; for the diagnosis of migraine (at the one-digit level) these values were 87%, 100% and 100%, respectively. The ICHD-II criteria for migraine without aura have high specificity but low sensitivity in childhood, even considering the minimal duration of the attacks to be 1 hour. Other factors, such as the existence of subgroup 2.4 (probable tension-type headache), are responsible for the low sensitivity of ICHD-II criteria for the diagnosis of migraine without aura in patients of this age group.     

Outcome of juvenile headache in outpatients attending 23 Italian headache clinics. Italian Collaborative Study Group on Juvenile Headache (Società Italiana Neuropsichiatria Infantile [SINPI])

A multicenter 3-year follow-up study was carried out on young patients with headache referred to tertiary headache centers or pediatric clinics. Three years after the first examination in 1993, 442 (of an original sample of 719) young outpatients with headache (226 females and 216 males) were re-examined. The diagnostic criteria of the International Headache Society (IHS) and those modified for migraine without aura by Winner et al were applied at both the baseline evaluation and the 3-year re-examination. At the follow-up, 290 children still had headache, 101 were in clinical remission, and 51 had dropped out. Using the current diagnostic criteria, only 46.2% of patients having migraine without aura, 50% of those having migraine with aura, and 35.3% of those suffering from migraine disorders which do not fulfill IHS criteria for migraine received the same diagnosis at the time of follow-up. The percentage of patients receiving a diagnosis of migraine without aura rose significantly when new modified criteria were used (60.5%), whereas a drop in the frequency of migraine disorders not fulfilling IHS criteria was observed at follow-up, both in patients with the diagnosis of migraine without aura at the first examination (4.6%) and in patients with migraine not always fulfilling IHS criteria at the first examination (6.2%). Among all patients who received this latter diagnosis at the first examination, it was possible to make a diagnosis of migraine with aura at the follow-up in 8.8% of cases and that of migraine without aura in 26.5%. No significant variations in the frequency of either episodic tension-type headache or chronic tension-type headache were found, with the exception of a slight decrease in the percentage of tension-type headache which did not fulfill IHS criteria, but the difference between the first examination and the follow-up values does not reach the level of statistical significance (5% versus 12%). As far as the evolution of migraine is concerned, 17.4% of patients with migraine were headache-free at the 3-year follow-up. In tension-type headache, the percentage of patients who were headache-free was particularly high in those with the episodic form (32.9%) and in those suffering from tension-type headache not fulfilling IHS criteria (29.1%). The majority of patients who had been diagnosed as having unclassifiable headache at the first examination received a correct diagnosis at the follow-up with the exception of one patient. As observed in adult patients, variations in the headache characteristics were also observed in children and adolescents (that is, migraine with aura can change to migraine without aura, or the latter can transform into episodic tension-type headache or chronic tension-type headache can change into the episodic form). This follow-up study was aimed at reaching a better understanding of headache disturbances in children and adolescents, examining, in particular, variations of headache with time in this stage of life.     

Prognostic factors, disability, and functional status among patients in a headache specialty practice

The objective of this study was to identify prognostic factors and assess functional status over time among patients in a headache specialty practice. Study questionnaires were mailed to 599 patients who previously presented to a headache specialty practice. Outcome measures included headache frequency, the Headache Impact Test (HIT) and the SF-36 Health Survey. Completed surveys were received from 333 respondents (56%). Thirty-five respondents (11%) had HIT scores in the 'little or no impact' range at follow-up and 191 (57%) had HIT scores in the 'severe impact' range. A diagnosis of migraine at baseline was an independent predictor of elevated HIT scores at follow-up, but gender, age, age at headache onset, daily headache at baseline, and time to follow-up did not predict poor prognosis. A subset of headache patients continue to experience marked disability and impaired functional status, months to years after presenting for headache specialty care. A diagnosis of migraine at the time of presentation may predict prognosis, but additional cohort studies with careful attention to baseline variables are needed to help identify other prognostic factors.     

The sensitivity and specificity of the case definition criteria in diagnosis of headache: a school-based epidemiological study of 5562 children in Mersin

The objectives of the present study were: (i) to estimate the prevalence of recurrent headaches in schoolchildren (ranging from 2nd to 5th degrees) in Mersin city of Turkey; (ii) to determine the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and positive likelihood ratio of the diagnostic headache characteristics in children with migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) using neurologist's diagnosis as the gold standard. The stratified sample of study was composed of 5562 children. The prevalence of recurrent headache was 49.2% (2739 of 5562) and the prevalence of current headache was 31.3% (859 of 2739). TTH was more common than migraine (24.7% vs. 10.4%). The most sensitive headache characteristic for migraine was 'severity of pain' and the most sensitive definitive symptom was 'duration of headache' in children with TTH. International Headache Society-based symptom definition criteria are highly beneficial in diagnosis of childhood headache, if used together with detailed clinical assessment.