The prevalence and burden of recurrent headache in Australian adolescents: findings from the longitudinal study of Australian children

Background Headache disorders are highly prevalent worldwide, but not well investigated in adolescents. Few studies have included representative nationwide samples. This study aimed to present the prevalence and burden of recurrent headache in Australian adolescents. Methods The prevalence of recurrent headache, headache characteristics (severity and frequency) and burden on health-related quality of life in Australian children aged 10–17 years were presented, using nationally representative data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian children (LSAC). The LSAC, commencing in 2004, collects data every 2 years from a sample of Australian children of two different age cohorts: B ‘baby’ cohort, aged 0–1 years and K ‘kindergarten’ cohort, aged 4–5 years at the commencement of the study. Face-to-face interviews and self-complete questionnaires have been conducted with the study child and parents of the study child (carer-reported data) at each data collection wave, with seven waves of data available at the time of the current study. Wave 7 of the LSAC was conducted in 2016, with B cohort children aged 12–13 years and K cohort children aged 16–17 years. For the current study, data were accessed for four out of seven waves of available data (Wave 4–7) and presented cross-sectionally for the two cohorts of Australian children, for the included age groups (10–11 years, 12–13 years, 14–15 years and 16–17 years). All available carer-reported questionnaire data pertaining to headache prevalence, severity and frequency, general health and health-related quality of life, for the two cohorts, were included in the study, and presented for male and female adolescents. Carer-reported general health status of the study child and health-related quality of life scores, using the parent proxy-report of the Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0, were compared for male and female adolescents with recurrent headache and compared with a healthy group. Finally, health-related quality of life scores were compared based on headache frequency and severity. Results The LSAC study initially recruited 10,090 Australian children (B cohort n = 5107, K cohort n = 4983), and 64.1% of the initial sample responded at wave 7. Attrition rates across the included waves ranged from 26.3% to 33.8% (wave 6 and 7) for the B cohort, and 16.3% to 38.0% (wave 4–7) for the K cohort. Recurrent headache was more common in females, increasing from 6.6% in 10–11 years old females to 13.2% in 16–17 years old females. The prevalence of headache in males ranged from 4.3% to 6.4% across the age groups. Health-related quality of life scores were lower for all functional domains in adolescents with recurrent headache, for both sexes. Headache frequency, but not severity, was significantly associated with lower health-related quality of life scores, in both males and females. Conclusions Recurrent headache was common among Australian adolescents and increased in prevalence for females, across the age groups. Frequent recurrent headache is burdensome for both male and female adolescents. This study provides information regarding the prevalence and burden of recurrent headache in the adolescent population based on findings from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.

Recent Advances in Migraine Therapy

Migraine characterized by recurrent headache episodes presents with aura or without. Various treatment modalities ranging from 5-HT1B/1D agonists, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), to steroids are available for acute treatment of migraine. Prophylaxis for chronic cases usually encompasses β blockers, calcium channel blockers, and antiepileptics. Many nutraceutical preparations are helpful in migraine, including riboflavin and vitamin B12. This review focuses on the newer agents available for treatment of migraine with some insights into their clinical trials.

Concurrent comorbidities substantially alter long-term health behaviours and outcomes of headache patients

ObjectivesTo investigate factors affecting the long-term health behaviours and outcomes of headache patients and to design a risk-stratification tool.MethodsA population based observational-longitudinal cohort study using primary care electronic healthcare records from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink. 550,103 participants with a headache or migraine diagnosis of which 170,336 patients were identified as having recurrent headache-related events. Univariate and multivariable survival analysis was performed to determine factors influencing remission and a neural network classifier was developed.ResultsThere were almost twice as many female patients (352,330) as males (197,802). The median age at which a patient first saw their GP in males was 38 years, and in females was 37 years. Whilst age, gender and social deprivation significantly influenced the likelihood of seeing a GP, these factors had little effect on likelihood of remission from a period of recurrent headache-related events. In contrast, a comorbidity during the recurrent headache period reduced the risk of remission and increased median survival time from approximately 400-days up 1600. Increasing numbers of comorbidities progressively reduced the hazard risks for remission. The prediction models on remission within two and five years, demonstrated high precision and recall, with an F1 score of 0.795 and 0.887, respectively.InterpretationHeadache patients who suffer comorbidities have a substantively reduced likelihood of remission, highlighting an opportunity to considerably improve health outcomes in recurrent headache patients through addressing multi-morbidity more effectively. The prediction model could be used to help stratify patients most at risk of poor long-term outcomes.

Diagnostic Yield of Neuroimaging and Electroencephalography in Children with Recurrent Headaches

Neuroimaging and electroencephalography (EEG) are commonly used for pediatric recurrent headache evaluation, although not routinely recommended. In this study, data of 517 children with recurrent headaches were analyzed to evaluate the diagnostic yield of neuroimaging and EEG. Neuroimaging was performed in 55% (n = 283) of children, 61% with magnetic resonance imaging and 39% with computed tomography. Abnormal findings were reported in 17% (n = 48), and 5% (n = 13) were significant abnormalities altering headache management. Among children with significant imaging abnormalities, 85% had alarming signs on history, physical, or neurological examination. The diagnostic yield of imaging was 0.7% (n = 2), picking a cavernous hemangioma and a giant arachnoid cyst. EEG was performed in 69% (n = 356) of children, significant findings were reported in 8% (n = 29), with sharp waves/spikes in 4.1% (n = 15), and intermittent focal slow waves in 3.9% (n = 14). EEG was diagnostic for epilepsy in 1.6% (n = 6) of children with recurrent headaches. When there are no red flags on history or physical examination, diagnostic yield of neuroimaging is low for pediatric recurrent headaches. EEG can be helpful in selective cases, and when performed during and at headache-free periods.