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- Title
Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Headache in a Rural Community in Oman.
- Authors
Deleu, Dirk; Khan, Mushtaq A.; Al Shehab, Tariq A. H.
- Abstract
Objectives.—To perform a prospective epidemiological study of headache in a rural community in Oman, assessing prevalence, symptom profile, and health care utilization pattern. Methods.—Using a door-to-door survey prevalence estimates were based on a detailed structured headache assessment questionnaire performed in 1158 subjects. Migraine and tension-type headache were diagnosed according to the International Headache Society criteria. Results.—The crude lifetime and last-year prevalence of headache were 83.6% and 78.8%, respectively, with a female preponderance. The last-year prevalence of migraine and tension headache was 10.1% and 11.2%, respectively. There was no significant gender difference in migraine prevalence (4.5% in male and 5.6% in female), but tension-type headache was 2.6 times more common in females (3.1% in male and 8.1% in female). Last-year prevalence of frequent headaches was 5.4%. Forty eight percent of respondents sought medical assistance for their headaches and 79% were using medication, 40% of them used self-medication. Conclusions.—This prospective study shows that headache is also highly prevalent in this community. Migraine and tension-type headache have the same prevalence, but the sex distribution for migraine is different from that observed in the Western world. Tension-type headache prevalence was substantially lower than that observed in other parts of the world. Frequent headaches were as common as in other population-based studies worldwide. Analgesic use/overuse probably also coexisted with headache, because self-medication was quite common.
- Subjects
OMAN; HEADACHE; MEDICAL care use
- Publication
Headache: The Journal of Head & Face Pain, 2002, Vol 42, Issue 10, p963
- ISSN
0017-8748
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1046/j.1526-4610.2002.02225.x