Analysis of the prevalence of headaches subtypes in a specialized outpatient clinic in a municipality in medium-sized Minas Gerais

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the prevalence of different subtypes of headaches in a tertiary referral clinic for headache care in the city of Barbacena. Methods A retrospective and descriptive cross-sectional cohort study that evaluated the medical records of 130 patients previously seen by a neurologist in January 2020 to March 2021 in the headache clinic. Results The mean age of patients was 42.5 years, most of them female (83.07%). Primary headaches were the most common, with migraine found in 73% of cases and tension-type headache (TTH) in 17%. Among secondary headaches, the most common subtype was headache attributed to a substance or its suppression (11%), followed by cases such as headache due to cranial neuralgia and central causes of facial pain (3%) and headache attributed to trauma or head and/or cervical injury (3%). All cases in which there was an association of diagnoses of headache subtypes were found in patients with migraine (100%). Conclusion This study defines the prevalence of headaches in a specialized outpatient clinic, confirming literature data that show migraine as the most common headache.