Frequency of Predisposing factors and first choice of treatment for headache

Abstract

Background: Headache being one of the most common disorder worldwide is considered among the 10 most disabling conditions for men and women according to World Health Organization(WHO).When it comes to the causative factors that can cause headaches and why some group of patients are more prone towards developing these headaches ,we have identified several risk factors. Also there are several self-adopted remedial treatments used by the people for headaches as it is considered a secondary condition. Aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of predisposing factors and First choice of treatment for headache. Methodology: Descriptive cross sectional study was conducted from June-November 2014. A sample of 500 participants was conscripted through purposive non-probability sampling technique. The particulars of predisposing factors and first choice of treatment were documented through a self-structured questionnaire and data was analyzed through SPSS 21. Results: Study illustrates that most of the participants belonged to age group 21 to 40 years that is 62.6%. The pain severity was recorded (46%), (43%) and (10%) for mild, moderate and severe pain correspondingly. Most participants in this study have headache which is intensified by anxiety (42.4%), inadequate sleep (25%) and tiredness (17%) and most prevalent first choice of treatment used by the participants were NSAIDs (46%) and proper sleep (31%) while rare were herbal remedies and wrap of cloth around head (2.6%) and (2.4 %) correspondingly. Conclusion: In this cross sectional survey based study we conclude that people with stress and inadequate sleep are most likely to experience headache in our population, and are using NSAIDS commonly to relief the pain followed by catching up on sleep. Key words: Headache Disorders, Tension Type Headache, Cluster Headache, Risk factors, First line-intervention