Cluster headache prevalence in the Italian general population.
BACKGROUND
Prevalence of cluster headache (CH) is estimated at 56 to 69 per 100,000.


OBJECTIVE
To calculate the CH lifetime prevalence in a sample representative of the Italian general population over age 14 years.


METHODS
Possible CH cases according to the diagnostic criteria of the 1988 International Headache Society classification were screened from a sample of 10,071 patients (5,311 women and 4,760 men; mean age 50.4 years, SD 19.7 years) registered in the lists of seven Parma-based general practitioners (GPs), using a previously validated, specially designed, self-administered questionnaire.


RESULTS
Seven thousand five hundred twenty-two subjects (74.7%; 3,971 women and 3,551 men; mean age 50.8 years, SD 19.0 years) responded to the questionnaire in their GP's office (n = 3,338; 1,885 women and 1,453 men) or at home by mail (n = 1,914; 1,030 women and 884 men) or by phone (n = 2,270; 1,056 women and 1,214 men). Of the 111 suspected cases (76 women and 35 men), 105 were seen by a neurologist and 6 were contacted on the phone. The diagnosis of CH was confirmed in 21 (9 women and 12 men), including 7 already followed at the authors' center for CH. Seventeen patients had episodic CH, and four (all men) had chronic CH. The estimated prevalence rate was 279 per 100,000 (95% CI 173 to 427), 227 per 100,000 (95% CI 104 to 431) in women, and 338 per 100,000 (95% CI 175 to 592) in men.


CONCLUSIONS
These results point to a higher cluster headache lifetime prevalence than previous reports.
Torelli
Paola
P
Headache Center, Section of Neurology, Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma, Italy. paolatorelli@libero.it
Beghi
Ettore
E
Manzoni
Gian Camillo
GC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003027:Cluster Headache / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires