Objective: To evaluate the frequency, predisposing factors and symptomatology of headache among medical students.
Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted from September to December 2013 and comprised students of two medical colleges of Karachi. International Classification of Headache Disorder-II criterion was used to diagnose and classify headache. SPSS 17 was used for statistical analysis.
Results: Of the 413 medical students studies, 326(79%) had tension type headache, and 87 (21%) had migraine. Headache was more frequent among females than males, with a ratio of 6.5:1. Both types of headache were significantly associated with self-reported disturbed sleep pattern, stress and various triggering factors (p<0.05 each). Both types greatly influenced individual's daily life with significant association with avoiding academics, extra-curricular activities, family and friends (p<0.05 each). High self-medication rate of 400(96.9%) was observed.
Conclusions: The prevalence of headache among medical students was high with female predominance. Infrequent consultation needs to be addressed through awareness programmes.
Keywords: Headache, Migraine, Medical students, Tension-type headache, Frequency..