Prevalence of primary headache disorders in a population aged 60 years and older in a rural area of Northern China.
BACKGROUND
Primary headache disorders are among the most common neurological complaints worldwide, and are significant causes of disability. Data are limited on the prevalence of primary headaches among individuals aged 60 years and older in China. The purpose of our study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of primary headaches among people aged 60 years and older in a rural area of northern China.


METHODS
A door-to-door survey was conducted in Ji County of Tianjin Province. A total of 5248 residents aged 60 years and older were visited from 2014 to 2015, unannounced, and basic sociodemographic and headache diagnostic information was collected via a questionnaire. Primary headache was classified tension-type headaches, migraines, chronic headache, and unclassified headache.


RESULTS
The 1-year prevalence for primary headaches in Ji county is 10.30 %. The 1-year prevalence of tension-type headaches, migraines, chronic headache, and unclassified headache is 2.02 %, 0.85 %, 3.79 %, and 3.63 %. The 1-year prevalence of primary headache was higher in women than in men. The 1-year prevalence of primary headache was decreased with increasing age. The 1-year prevalence of tension-type headaches and chronic headache were decreased with higher education. Headache in the elderly was mild to moderate and not serious.


CONCLUSIONS
In a population older than 60 years of age in rural, northern China, we found the 1-year prevalence of primary headache was 10.30 %, of tension-type headaches was 2.02 %, of migraines was 0.85 %, of chronic headache was 3.79 %, and of unclassified headache was 3.63 %. The prevalence of all of these was much lower than those observed in previous studies examining prevalence rates in the general population. The results of our study also indicated that women are more likely to have primary headache than men. We also found that chronic headache was frequent among the elderly. Participants with higher education levels were more predisposed than healthy participants to tension-type headaches. We also found that respondents who did not participate in social activities had a decreased predisposition for primary headache in general, as well as for unclassified headache. Lastly, we found that participants who had heart disease were more likely than healthy participants to experience primary headache, tension-type headache, chronic headache, and unclassified headache.
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China.|Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Jizhao Road 6, Tianjin, Jinnan, 300060, China.
Yajing
Y
Zhang
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China.|Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Jizhao Road 6, Tianjin, Jinnan, 300060, China.
Zhihong
Z
Shi
Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Floride, Tampa, USA.
Duncan
D
Hock
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China.|Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Jizhao Road 6, Tianjin, Jinnan, 300060, China.
Wei
W
Yue
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China.|Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Jizhao Road 6, Tianjin, Jinnan, 300060, China.
Shuling
S
Liu
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China.|Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Jizhao Road 6, Tianjin, Jinnan, 300060, China.
Ying
Y
Zhang
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China.|Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Jizhao Road 6, Tianjin, Jinnan, 300060, China.
Shuai
S
Liu
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China.|Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Jizhao Road 6, Tianjin, Jinnan, 300060, China.
Lei
L
Zhao
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China.|Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Jizhao Road 6, Tianjin, Jinnan, 300060, China.
Hui
H
Lu
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China.|Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Jizhao Road 6, Tianjin, Jinnan, 300060, China.
Yalin
Y
Guan
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China.|Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Jizhao Road 6, Tianjin, Jinnan, 300060, China.
Xiaodan
X
Wang
Departments of Neurology(Aging and Dementia Division), Pathology and Psychiatry, NYU Pearl Barlow Center of Memory Evaluation and Treatment, New York, NY, USA.
Thomas
T
Wsiniewski
Department of Neurology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China. jiyongusa@126.com.|Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Jizhao Road 6, Tianjin, Jinnan, 300060, China. jiyongusa@126.com.
Yong
Y
Ji
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D051270:Headache Disorders, Primary / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000453:epidemiology
Chronic headache; Migraines; Prevalence; Primary headache; Tension-type headache; Unclassified headache