| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
From the Health Center of Santoña (Drs. Colás and Temprano, C. Gómez), Primary Care Management Unit (Dr. Muñoz), and Service of Neurology (Dr. Pascual), University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla (UC), Cantabria, Spain.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. J. Pascual, Service of Neurology, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, 39008 Santander, Spain; e-mail: juliopascual{at}telefonica.net
Objective: To analyze the prevalence and demography of chronic daily headache (CDH) with analgesic overuse.
Methods: A population of 9,984 inhabitants aged 14 or older living in Santoña, Spain, was studied. The authors personally interviewed 4,855 subjects, using a quota sampling approach. Those with headache for 
10 days/month and some analgesic use were asked to fill in a diary over the course of 1 month. Then, subjects were classified into CDH with or without analgesic overuse subtypes. Quality of life (Short Form-36 Health Survey [SF-36]) was also assessed in this second interview.
Results: Headache for 10 days/month with analgesic consumption was reported by 332 subjects. Seven had secondary headache. Seventy-four (standardized prevalence 1.41%, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.8) fulfilled criteria for CDH with analgesic overuse. Prevalence in women (2.6%, 2.0 to 3.3) was much higher than in men (0.19%, 0.006 to 0.52). Mean age was 56 years (range 19 to 82 years). As recalled by the subjects, the mean age at onset of CDH was 38 years (range 9 to 82 years), whereas the mean age at onset of CDH with frequent analgesic consumption was 45 years (range 19 to 80 years) and that of primary headache was 22 years (range 5 to 60 years). CDH subjects showed a significant decrease in each SF-36 health-related score as compared with healthy control subjects. Transformed migraine was diagnosed in 49 (prevalence 0.9%), chronic tension-type headache in 20 (0.4%), and new daily persistent headache in 5 (0.1%). Thirty-five percent of patients overused simple analgesics, 22% ergotics, 12.5% opioids, and 2.7% triptans; the remaining 27.8% were overusing different combinations.
Conclusion: CDH with analgesic overuse is a common disorder in the general population, mainly in women in their fifties, in whom 5% meet its diagnostic criteria.
Received May 13, 2003. Accepted in final form October 6, 2003.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  V. K. Gupta Orbitofrontal cortex hypometabolism, medication overuse headache, substance abuse and migraine: key pathophysiological issues. Brain, July 1, 2006; 129(Pt 7): E52 - E52. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. Fumal, S. Laureys, L. Di Clemente, M. Boly, V. Bohotin, M. Vandenheede, G. Coppola, E. Salmon, R. Kupers, and J. Schoenen Orbitofrontal cortex involvement in chronic analgesic-overuse headache evolving from episodic migraine Brain, February 1, 2006; 129(2): 543 - 550. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. W. Dodick Chronic Daily Headache N. Engl. J. Med., January 12, 2006; 354(2): 158 - 165. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. H. Kossoff and D. N. Mankad Medication-Overuse Headache in Children: Is Initial Preventive Therapy Necessary? J Child Neurol, January 1, 2006; 21(1): 45 - 48. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 V. K. Gupta, J. Pascual, R. Colas, and P. Munoz Chronic daily headache with analgesic overuse: Epidemiology and impact on quality of life Neurology, October 12, 2004; 63(7): 1341 - 1341. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
Read all Correspondence
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
