title: Headache among medical and psychology students.
abstract: Headaches occur frequently and thus are a key component of sociocentric medical education.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study headaches among students of medicine and psychology in a single university.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a questionnaire-based survey of a cohort of students of medicine and psychology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall lifetime prevalence of headache was 98% and over the last year, 91%. Tensional headache accounted for 59% and migraine 22% in medicine; and 48.5% and 32% respectively in psychology. Forty-five percent reported that headaches had a variable sporadic impact on their productivity. The self-medication rate was 77%. Thirty-six percent reported worsening since admission to the university.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of headaches was very high. Tension-type headaches predominated in males and migraine in females. Tension-type was more frequent among medical students than among psychology students; migraine was more frequent in psychology (more females) than in medicine. Both kinds of students reported that headaches caused low interference with daily activities. The students reported that their symptoms had worsened since admission to the university.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Psychology, Taubaté University, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: João Eliezer
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Ferri-de-Barros
authors.forename: Mauricio José de
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Alencar
authors.forename: Luis Felipe
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Berchielli
authors.forename: Luis Carlos
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Castelhano Junior
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011584:Psychology / Q000193:education / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013336:Students, Health Occupations / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult