A 13-year long-term outcome study of elderly with chronic daily headache

We established a cohort of 60 subjects with chronic daily headache (CDH) out of 1533 community-based elderly in 1993 and finished two short-term follow-ups in 1995 and 1997. All of the 26 survivors without dementia (4 M/22 F, mean age 82.7 +/- 3.4 years) finished the follow-up in 2006. The mean headache frequency was 8.4 +/- 11.8 days per month in the past year, and seven (27%) had persistent CDH. Based on the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edn, the CDH subtypes diagnoses were chronic migraine in three subjects, chronic tension-type headache in three, and one with medication-overuse headache. All these seven subjects had CDH during the 1995 and 1997 follow-ups. The diagnosis of CDH with migrainous features increased from 25 to 71% in those with CDH from 1993 to 2006. Migraine was the most common headache type in those with CDH resolution. Aggressive treatment should be applied especially for those with persistent CDH at short-term follow-ups.