Abstract
Background and objective: headache is one of the most common complaints in medical practice. According to our knowledge headache in Medical students has not been investigated in IRAN. The aim of this study performed for demonstrating of the headache prevalence, symptoms profile and type of headache in Tabriz university medical students.
Materials and Methods: In this study 340-medical students with age between 18 to 28 years old, were investigated. The prevalence and type of headache was based on a details structured headache assessment questionnaires.
Besides demographic data, headache characteristics and pattern of health care utilization were evaluated. In addition, questions were included referring to the use of drugs. This was a descriptive analytic and cross- sectional study.
The target population was the medical students at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences from April 2004 to April 2005. The base of classification of headache was the criteria of International Headache Society (IHS).
Results: All of the interviewers (100%) completed the questionnaire: 133 men (39.1%) and 207 women (60.9%). The prevalence of headache was 54.4%, 40% of women and 14.4% of men suffered from headache. Prevalence of migraine 23.8% and tension type of headache was 3.8%. A positive family history of headache was found among 56.2% of students who had headache. Only 17.8% of students sought medical assistance during headache episodes, and 72.4% took medication. Acetaminophen (56.6%) followed by Ibuprofen(18.6%)were the most commonly used drugs. Antimigraine drugs (Sumatriptan and Ergotamine) were used in 14.1%.
Conclusion: The results of this study show that headache is highly prevalent Migraine sufferers in this student population might be due to the high female-to-male ratio (1.5:1). It is likely that analgesic use or overuse also coexists with headache in these students, since a large majority of them rely on nonprescription medications.