Location
Lecture Hall-3
Start Date
26-2-2014 12:25 PM
COinS
Feb 26th, 12:25 PM
Feb 26th, 12:35 PM
The Prevalence, Classification and Characteristics of Headache in Medical Students of Karachi, Pakistan
Lecture Hall-3
Description
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of headache disorders in undergraduate medical students of Karachi, Pakistan, their signs and symptoms and presence of various associations.
Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study including 402 participants. All of them were medical students from first year to final year enrolled at seven medical colleges of Karachi, Pakistan. The ethical approval of study was obtained from Dow University of Health Sciences. A self-designed questionnaire was used. Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was used to assess the tendency of excessive day-time sleepiness among medical students. The data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0.
Results: It was noted that 91.5% female students and 80% male students reported having suffered from headache. Around 17.84% were found to have migraine, 75.35% had tension-type headache (TTH), 3.97 % had both migraine and TTH and 2.27% suffered from cluster headaches. A quarter of students suffering from headache were found to have a positive family history, while, stress, fatigue, sleep disturbance and nasal congestion were the most commonly reported trigger factors. More than half (60%) students cited that they do not take any medications for headache. Other possible trigger factors such as eating dairy products, physical exertion, cold weather and menstrual cycles were also inquired but they were not found significant as p-value was less than 0.05.
Conclusion: This study found a very high prevalence of headache among medical students of Karachi, Pakistan. A number of trigger factors were identified which if curtailed can reduce the occurrence of headache. This also requires strategic planning, encouraging medical students to adapt a healthy lifestyle.
Keywords: Headache, Medical Students, Migraine, Tension type headache