One-year prevalence and socio-cultural aspects of chronic headache in Turkish immigrants and German natives.
The aim of this research was to study the prevalence of chronic headache (CH) and associated socio-cultural factors in Turkish immigrants and native Germans. Five hundred and twenty-three Turkish and German company employees were screened using a standard questionnaire. Those who suffered from headaches were also examined by a neurologist. Complete data were available for 471 (90%) subjects. Thirty-four participants (7.2%) had CH. Two independent factors for association with CH could be identified: overuse of acute headache medication (OR = 72.5; 95% CI 25.9-202.9), and being a first-generation Turkish immigrant compared with native Germans (OR = 4.4; 95% CI 1.4-13.7). In contrast, the factor associated with chronic headache was not increased in second-generation Turkish immigrants. Medication overuse was significantly more frequent in first-generation Turkish immigrants (21.6%) compared with second-generation Turkish immigrants (3.3%) and native Germans (3.6%; chi(2) = 38.0, P < 0.001). First-generation Turkish immigrants did not contact headache specialists at all, compared with 2.8% of second-generation Turkish immigrants and 8.8% of native Germans (chi(2) = 118.4, P < 0.001). Likewise no first-generation Turkish immigrant suffering from CH received headache preventive treatment, compared with 6.6% of native Germans (chi(2) = 19.1, P = 0.014). The data from this cross-sectional study reveal a high prevalence of chronic headache as well as a very low utilization of adequate medical care in first-generation Turkish immigrants in Germany.
Kavuk
I
I
Department of Neurology, University of Essen, Essen, Germany. ilker.kavuk@uni-essen.de
Weimar
C
C
Kim
B T
BT
Gueneyli
G
G
Araz
M
M
Klieser
E
E
Limmroth
V
V
Diener
H C
HC
Katsarava
Z
Z
D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003469:Culture; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006261:Headache / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014421:Turkey / Q000208:ethnology