Tension-type headache in children: a clinical evaluation.
BACKGROUND
Headache Society (IHS) criteria for episodic tension-type headache were included in the present study. Pain characteristics, associated symptoms, and stress-triggering factors were evaluated. Psychiatric and psychosocial evaluations were performed according to DSM-IV criteria.


RESULTS
Pain was bilateral in 93.7% of patients and bitemporal in 50% of children. The intensity of pain increased with motion and stress in more than half of the patients, while pain decreased with rest and massage in 43.7% of patients. Ten of the 16 (62.5%) patients were diagnosed as having a psychiatric disorder. The most common stress-triggering factors were difficulty in adaptation at school and relationship problems with family members. All of the children reported 26 stress factors. Of these stress factors, 20 (76.9%) were reported by children diagnosed with psychiatric disorder.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that in children with tension-type headache a thorough psychiatric evaluation should be performed to rule out underlying psychiatric disorders.
Sarioglu
Berrak
B
Department of Pediatrics, Ege University, Faculty of Medicine, Iz mgr, Turkey.
Erhan
Elvan
E
Serdaroglu
Gul
G
Doering
Birgul Gokce
BG
Erermis
Serpil
S
TutuncuoGlu
Sarenur
S
D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications*; D002648:Child; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012574:Schools; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*