J Korean Neurol Assoc.
2000 Jan;18(1):33-37.
Characteristics of the Patients with Headache at a Primary Care Neurology Clinic
- Affiliations
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- 1Ahn Gwang-Byeng Neurology Clinic.
- 2Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University.
Abstract
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BACKGROUND: We investigated the demographic features and characteristics of headache (HA) in patients visiting a primary care clinic (PCC).
METHODS
We prospectively collected the demographic and clinical data of 261 consecutive HA patients in a PCC located in Taejon from Oct. 1996 to Jul. 1998. All patients were interviewed and examined by a single neurologist. The types of HA were classified as migraine, tension-type, mixed, and others.
RESULTS
The mean age at the initial visit was 37.2 +/-13.4 years. Women were 3 times more common than men (193 patients vs. 68 patients). More than half of the female patients were housewives (47.5%). Migraine was the most common type of headache (114 patients, 43.7%), followed by mixed type (72 patients, 27.6%) and tension-type headaches (57 patients, 21.8%). 85.7% of patients with HA for more than 1 month had taken medication before their initial visit. Among the 168 patients who reported their attitude toward HA, 55 patients continuously worried about their HA even in the HA-free period.
CONCLUSIONS
In a PCC, migraine was the prevailing type of HA. The majority of HA sufferers were housewives.
