Parental awareness of headaches among elementary school-aged children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Context: Headaches can negatively impact children's quality of life. Nevertheless, data on the parental awareness of childhood headache is very limited. Aim: The objective was to estimate the prevalence of childhood headaches and parental awareness of headaches among their elementary school children. Settings and Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted among parents who were shopping in five malls in Riyadh between March and July 2019. Methods and Material: Data were collected using a self-completed questionnaire, which included data on socio-demographic characteristics of the parents and their children, the presence of headache in children, and parental awareness about headache susceptibility, possible causes, associated symptoms, and management. Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed as appropriate using the software SPSS. Results: A total of 292 parents were included. The majority were mothers (75.3%) in the age range of 26–45 years (83.2%). Approximately 62.3% of the parents reported headaches in their children. Approximately 47.6% of the headaches were attributed to “the use of electronic devices”. The overall parental awareness of headaches was 55.1%, with scores being highest for management questions (67.0%) and lowest for susceptibility questions (45.4%). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for socio-demographic characteristics, parental awareness was positively associated with the presence of children with headaches in the family and negatively associated with Saudi nationality of the children. Conclusions: Parental awareness of childhood headache is insufficient. There is a need to increase the awareness of parents about childhood headaches and the problems associated with heavy electronic device use.

Keywords

• awareness
• headache
• parents
• school children