The prevalence of headache among elderly in a low-income area of São Paulo, Brazil.
There are scarce data about headache prevalence and its characteristics among elderly people. The aim was to carry out a cross-sectional study to determine the 1-year prevalence of tension-type and migraine headaches in people >65 years old in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. All 1615 people living in the study catchment area who agreed to participate in the study answered a questionnaire based in the International Headache Society criteria. Prevalence (mean and 95% confidence interval) of any type of headache in the last year was 45.6% (43.2, 48.0). Prevalence of tension-type headache in the last year was 33.1% (30.8, 35.4): 28.1% (24.6, 31.6) for men and 36.4% (33.4, 39.4) for women; for migraine headaches, prevalence in the last year was 10.6% (9.1, 12.1): 5.1% (3.4, 6.8) for men and 14.1% (11.9, 16.3) for women. One-year prevalence rates of headaches, and especially of migraine headaches, are very high among the elderly in Brazil.
Benseñor
I M
IM
Hospital Universitário, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. isabensenor@hu.usp.br
Lotufo
P A
PA
Goulart
A C
AC
Menezes
P R
PR
Scazufca
M
M
D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data