GPs' classification of headache: is primary headache underdiagnosed?
With a high economic, social, and personal burden, headache remains an important health problem. How UK GPs diagnose headache in the UK is unknown. In this study, a large primary care database was used and diagnostic categories were described for 91121 adult patients with new-onset headache, that is, patients who had not consulted for headache in the previous year. Seventy per cent of headaches were not given a diagnostic label, 24% were diagnosed as primary, and 6% as secondary headaches. It is suggested that GPs' difficulty in diagnosing headache presentations contributes to the high level of morbidity and unmet need in this disease.
Kernick
David
D
British Association for the Study of Headache, Department of Neurology, Hull Royal Infirmary, Hull. su1838@eclipse.co.uk
Stapley
Sally
S
Hamilton
William
W
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D020773:Headache Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology