Background: Headache is a prevalent and disabling
condition in children. It is a frequent cause of medication and health
resource use in children. We examined the incidence and nature of health
service use of the pediatric patient population in Alberta using provincial
linked administrative databases. Methods: We used
linked administrative data to identify patients under the age of 18 years
from 2010-2017 and ICD-10 headache type at diagnosis and health service
utilization including cost, medication use, outpatient/ED visits and
hospitalizations. Patient geographic location was mapped. We explored health
system use in the 3 years before and after diagnosis by identifying visits
to community physicians, outpatient clinics emergency departments an
inpatient admissions. Results: Over the 7 year study
period 45,454 patients were identified under 18 years, 60% of patients first
diagnosed with migraine, 11.7% (5308) with tension headache and 28.2
(12,833) with unspecified headache. Higher health system utilization seen
immediately before and after headache diagnosis, returning to pre-diagnosis
values within the 3 years following. Conclusions:
This is the first population based reporting of pediatric headache
prevalence and health resource utilization in Alberta. This contemporary
prevalence and health resource data use should help inform future policy and
headache care in the province of Alberta.