Headache diagnosis, disability and co-morbidities in a multi-ethnic, heterogeneous paediatric Asian population

Abstract

This was a questionnaire survey on headache and migraine prevalence in 2873 Singaporean schoolchildren aged 6 to 16 years. ICHD-II headache classification, disability assessment with PedMIDAS and screening of psychosocial co-morbidities with the Paediatric Symptom Checklist were conducted. Lifetime headache prevalence was high at 80.6%, migraine prevalence was 8.6% and tension headache prevalence was 10.0%. Headache and migraine prevalence was high compared with that found in other Asian studies. Factors significantly associated with headache included adolescent age (OR = 1.5 [95% CI 1.3–1.9], p < .001), female gender at primary (OR = 1.4 [95% CI 1.1–1.8], p = .003) and secondary (OR = 1.8 [95% CI 1.3–2.5], p < .001) levels and Malay ethnicity at the primary level (OR = 2.8 [95% CI 1.6–4.9], p < .001). The average PedMIDAS score for headache disability was 3.2 ± 8.4, and migraine disability (PedMIDAS 8.1 ± 11.2–15.2 ± 29.6) was lower than in some studies. Self-medication (20.5%) and use of alternative therapy (59.0%) were high among chronic daily headache sufferers. Routine sleep and stress screening is recommended for children with headaches. Recognition of the influence of genetics, lifestyle and cultural factors on headache management should be emphasized.