Migraine and tension-type headache in medical students: a questionnaire study.
The purpose of our study was to perform an epidemiological study of migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) in medical students (MS) at University of Zagreb Medical School and to determine whether there are differences in prevalence, trigger factors, health care utilization and self-medication between sixth year and first year MS. This study included 314 students who answered a questionnaire from October to November 2003. The prevalence of migraine was 8.86% in first year students and 10.90% in sixth year students while the prevalence of TTH was 60.13% and 57.69% respectively. Female students suffered from migraines significantly more often than male students (p = 0.017). Female students with migraine linked their headaches to their menstrual cycle significantly more often than female students with TTH (p = 0.011). Significantly more first year students have visited a doctor concerning their headaches than sixth year students. Also, there is a significantly higher level of self-medication amongst sixth year students. Our study has shown that a relatively large percent of MS suffers from TTH; a low percent is seeking medical advice for headaches, the majority is self-medicated, and an unacceptably low percentage is taking triptans for migraine.
Galinović
Ivana
I
Department of Neurology, University Hospital "Sestre Milosrdnice", Reference Center for Neurovascular Disorders of the Republic of Croatia, Zagreb, Croatia. ivana.galinovic@inet.hr
Vuković
Vlasta
V
Troselj
Mario
M
Antić
Sonja
S
Demarin
Vida
V
D006261:Headache / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires