title: Validation of a brief self-administered questionnaire for cluster headache screening in a tertiary center.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cluster headache remains substantially underdiagnosed and undertreated. Early neurologic referral is indicated in patients with a suspected diagnosis of cluster headache (CH) so that management can be optimized and unnecessary procedures avoided.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To validate a brief self-administered questionnaire designed to screen CH cases in tertiary centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  The review of clinical studies led us to identify the 3 more prevalent criteria of the second edition of the International Headache Society classification (International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edition [ICHD II]) for all forms of CH (episodic and chronic forms). These 3 criteria were: strictly unilaterality of pain, attack duration <180 minutes if untreated, ipsilateral conjunctival injection, and/or lacrimation. These criteria were transformed in questions formulated in such a way that they could be self-administered and easily understood. Answer to each question was yes or no. Patients were unaided. The self-questionnaire was compared with the gold standard, the ICHD II criteria used by specialists at the university of Bordeaux headache center.We calculated the sensitivity and specificity for the 3 questions and for each pair of questions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The self-questionnaire was consecutively and prospectively submitted to 37 patients with CH and 59 patients with migraine. The 3-item questionnaire had a 78.4% sensibility and a 100% specificity. The 2-item questionnaire only using the attack duration associated with conjunctival injection and/or lacrimation was more sensitive (81.1%) with the same specificity (100%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This 2-item questionnaire could be a useful tool for screening CH cases in tertiary centers.
authors.affiliation: Centre Douleur Chronique, Hôpital Pellegrin, Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dousset
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laporte
authors.forename: Mélanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Legoff
authors.forename: Marie-Hélène
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Traineau
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Dartigues
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brochet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003027:Cluster Headache / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires