title: Headache in a national sample of American children: prevalence and comorbidity.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence, sociodemographic correlates, and comorbidity of recurrent headache in children in the United States. Participants were individuals aged 4 to 18 years (n = 10,198) who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Data on recurrent and other health conditions were analyzed. Frequent or severe headaches including migraine in the past 12 months were reported in 17.1% of children. Asthma, hay fever, and frequent ear infections were more common in children with headache, with at least 1 of these occurring in 41.6% of children with headache versus 25.0% of children free of headache. Other medical problems associated with childhood headaches include anemia, overweight, abdominal illnesses, and early menarche. Recurrent headache in childhood is common and has significant medical comorbidity. Further research is needed to understand biologic mechanisms and identify more homogeneous subgroups in clinical and genetic studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Children's National Medical Center and George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C., USA. tlateef@cnmc.org
authors.forename: Tarannum M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Lateef
authors.forename: Kathleen R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Merikangas
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalaydjian
authors.forename: Suzan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khoromi
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: Karin B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Nelson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000740:Anemia / Q000453:epidemiology; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008572:Menarche; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D010031:Otitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology