Authors: Arens Taga Marco Russo Gian C Manzoni Paola Torelli
Publish Date: 2014/07/19
Volume: 36, Issue: 1, Pages: 29-34
Abstract
In the present paper we focus on the age of onset for tensiontype headache in a populationbased sample in the Parma distinguishing its different subtypes and considering definite and probable diagnoses Age of headache onset is a useful clinical feature for differential diagnosis between primary headaches and between primary and secondary headache forms A total of 904 subjects representative of the Parma’s adult general population were interviewed face to face by a physician from the Parma Headache Centre using a validated questionnaire specially designed for the diagnosis of primary headaches according to the ICHDII criteria In the majority of subjects diagnosed with definite tensiontype headache age of onset was 39 years or less while mean age of onset was 297 years SD 163 years range 5–79 years the median being 25 years Both infrequent and frequent episodic definite tensiontype headache first occurred in the majority of cases in the second third and fourth decades Subjects with chronic definite tensiontype headache reported a later onset in life ie fourth fifth and sixth decades In our study mean age of onset for probable tensiontype headache was 237 years SD 92 years range 10–40 years and the median was 22 years In no case did we find significant gender differences Our study results are similar to most of those reported in the literature Further research needs to be done in the Italian epidemiological context given the lack of literature reports on this topic
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