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Hypertension is a factor associated with chronic daily headache

S Gipponi1, E Venturelli, R Rao

  • 1Neurological Department, University of Brescia, Piazzale Spedali Civili 1, 25100, Brescia, Italy. stefanogipponi@yahoo.it

Neurological Sciences : Official Journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology
|May 14, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Hypertension is more common in patients with chronic daily headache (CDH) than in those with episodic migraines or tension-type headaches. Further research is needed to understand the association between hypertension and CDH.

Area of Science:

  • Neurology
  • Internal Medicine
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Chronic daily headache (CDH) affects a significant number of patients at tertiary care centers.
  • CDH is defined as headache occurring more than 15 days per month.
  • Factors contributing to the transformation from episodic to chronic daily headache are not fully understood, though analgesic overuse is a key suspect.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify risk factors associated with the chronification of headaches.
  • To investigate the prevalence of comorbidities in patients with chronic daily headache compared to episodic headache types.

Main Methods:

  • A study of 1,483 consecutive patients diagnosed with migraine, tension-type headache (CTT), or chronic daily headache (CDH).
  • Data collection included patient age, gender, headache type, and comorbidities.
  • Statistical analysis using descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests to compare groups.

Main Results:

  • Hypertension prevalence was significantly higher in the CDH group (16.2%) compared to migraine (7.3%) and CTT (6.6%) groups.
  • No significant differences in hypertension prevalence were found between CDH patients with and without medication overuse.
  • No significant correlations were found between CDH and other studied somatic conditions like diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, or cardiopathy.

Conclusions:

  • A significant association exists between chronic daily headache and hypertension.
  • The study suggests hypertension may be a risk factor or comorbidity associated with CDH, but a causal relationship is not established.
  • Further clinical trials are recommended to explore the role of somatic comorbidities in CDH.

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