Extracephalic jabs/idiopathic stabs. Vågå study of headache epidemiology

Abstract

Ultrashort cephalic paroxysms are well known. In the parish of Vågå, Norway, 35.2% of the 18-65-year-old subjects (n = 1779) were recently found to have such jabs. In the present work, a search has been made for extracephalic 'jabs'. A questionnaire was in its entirety administered by the same investigator (O.S.) in a 'semistructured' way. Facial jabs were present in three women, and in one of them the pain spread to the head. Four subjects had jabs occurring at random throughout the body, also including the cephalic area. Pure nuchal jabs were present in 12 subjects, 10 of whom were males. This sex preponderance difference differs significantly from that in jabs in general (with 40.2% males). The characteristics of the extracephalic jabs, i.e. the duration and temporal pattern, do not seem to differentiate them essentially from jabs in general. The subjects were not asked specific questions regarding extracranial jabs. Most of the affected individuals gave information spontaneously about their jabs. For these reasons, this study is not a proper prevalence study. It does show, however, that extracranial jabs exist, and it gives some indications as to their frequency.