Headache: Prevalence and relationship with office or ambulatory blood pressure in a general population sample (the Vobarno Study).
The association of headache and arterial hypertension is still controversial, although headache is usually considered a symptom of hypertension. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of headache in a general population sample and the relationship with arterial hypertension, as diagnosed by office measurements and ambulatory monitoring of blood pressure (BP).


METHODS
In the randomized sample of the Vobarno population, 301 subjects (126 males, 175 females, age range 35-50 years) underwent a structured standardized headache questionnaire, office and 24-h ambulatory BP monitoring.


RESULTS
Prevalence of lifetime headache and of migraine was greater in females than in males. Office and 24-h BP values did not differ between subjects without headache and subjects with headache. No differences in headache prevalence (58% vs 55%), migraine prevalence (32% vs 28%) and use of analgesic drugs in the presence of headache (82% vs 78%) were observed between hypertensive patients (93.5% newly diagnosed, 6.5% treated) and normotensive subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
In a general population sample, hypertension (diagnosed by office and/or 24-h BP) is not associated with headache.
Internal Medicine, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy. muiesan@med.unibs.it
Maria Lorenza
ML
Muiesan
Alessandro
A
Padovani
Massimo
M
Salvetti
Cristina
C
Monteduro
Paolo
P
Poisa
Bianca
B
Bonzi
Anna
A
Paini
Elisabetta
E
Cottini
Chiara
C
Agosti
Maurizio
M
Castellano
Damiano
D
Rizzoni
Amedeo
A
Vignolo
Enrico
E
Agabiti-Rosei
D000328:Adult; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001794:Blood Pressure; D018660:Blood Pressure Monitoring, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors
D000700:Analgesics