Headache-related disability among medical students in Amazon: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of headache in medical students, and quantify the degree of disability through HIT-6 and MIDAS scale. Method: The criteria established by International Headache Society were used and the HIT-6 and MIDAS, to asses disability. Results: 140 medical students from UFAM were evaluated. 16.43% cases of migraine headache, 6.43% of probable migraine, and 23.57% of tension headaches were detected. 6.42% reported an absence of headache; and another 11.42% had secondary headache. According to the HIT-6 questionnaire, in 7.14% and 18.57% of the students, headaches were classified as having substantial to severe impact, respectively. Conclusion: Migraine and probable migraine had higher scores than the other types of headache and, therefore, led to higher levels of disability. The present study did not find a significant correlation between student semester, age or extracurricular activities on the impact generated by headache.