[Prevalence of chronic headache in Shanghai children and adolescents: a questionnaire-based study]

To explore the prevalence and characteristics of chronic headache in children and adolescents in Shanghai and to collect messages concerning the impact and compliance of medication for migraine.

A population-based questionnaire study was conducted among subjects 6 - 15 years of age sampled from primary and junior high schools in Shanghai and the subjects were followed up.

(1) The prevalence: 8701 (88.6%) out of 9857 pupils responded to the questionnaire; 17% of the respondents had headache and in 86.4% of them the reason of headache was unknown. The prevalence of chronic headache in Shanghai children and adolescents was 7.8%, there was no significant difference between both genders (chi(2) = 0.010, P > 0.05). (2) The prevalence of chronic headache increased with age, the incidence was higher in boys before 12 years of age, while higher in girls after 12 years of age. (3) Characteristics of chronic headache: the proportion of unilateral, bilateral and headache of unknown site was similar; in most of the cases headache was localized in the temple (35.2%) and forehead region (25.6%), the duration of headache was short, always accompanied by gastrointestinal symptoms. Half of the patients reported that the headache had affected their study and daily life. (4) The status of using health care facilities: 24% of the students sought medical assistance during their headache episodes and among them only 30.9% took medicine. (5) Over-fatigue (51.4%), followed by insufficient sleep (40.4%), emotional changes (38.5%) were the main aggravating factors. The headache was also associated with positive family history and stress in studying.

Headache is a common complaints of children, affecting the patients' study and daily life. But many patients with headache were not treated properly, therefore, the medical and educational sectors and the society should pay more attention to this problem.