Headache is associated with lower alcohol consumption among medical students

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between headache and alcohol consumption among medical students. 480 medical students were submitted to a questionnaire about headaches and drinking alcohol. Headache was assessed by IDMigraine and functional disability was evaluated with MIDAS. The evaluation of alcohol consumption was assessed with Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). There was significantly lower proportion of students with drinking problem among students with headache. This occurred both among students classified as having migraine and among those who had non-migrainous headache. There was not a correlation between functional disability of headache and AUDIT score. Our data suggest that having headache leads to a reduction in alcohol consumption among medical students regardless the degree of headache functional impact.