Epidemiology of headaches in Tehran urban area: a population-based cross-sectional study in district 8, year 2010

Many population-based studies have been performed to determine the prevalence of different types of headaches; however, none of them was performed in Tehran urban area as a huge and crowded metropolitan with multiple serious problematic crises. This study was performed to evaluate the prevalence rates of different types of headache among adult population of Tehran urban area in the year 2010. In this cross-sectional survey, a "face-to-face, in-door" structured interview was developed and used in district 8 of Tehran urban area as one representative region in the year 2010. A form concerning the prevalence of different types of headaches which also comprised the characteristics of the headaches and sociodemographic data was designed. After enrollment, participation rate of 91% (3,655 out of 4,000) was achieved. Of 3,655 recruited individuals, 2,778 (76%) people have experienced headache within last year. Tension-type headache and migraine were the most common types with the prevalence of 48.6% (n = 1,777) and 18.2% (n = 665), while, chronic daily, medication overuse headache and cluster headaches were presented in 7.0% (n = 255), 4.9% (n = 180) and 0.1% (n = 3), respectively. The prevalence of primary headaches in a sample of Tehran adult population is considerable. This high prevalence of headaches necessitates further evaluation of possible risk factors derived from leaving in such a crowded metropolitan area.