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[Headache caused by analgesic abuse]
J L Parajuá Pozo1, E Ballesteros Martínez
1Hospital Can Misses, Ibiza.
Objective:
To assess the frequency of migraines attributable to continuous consumption of analgesics.
Design:
A longitudinal prospective study of a descriptive type.
Setting:
A specialised Neurology Clinic within a County hospital, which provides the Primary Care coverage for ibiza and Formentera.
Patients:
All those patients who were referred to the said clinic over a two-year period.
Measurements And Main Results:
Nine cases were identified: 1.1% of all patients. The drug involved in 90% of the cases was the aspirin. 100% of the patients were women. Anxiolytics, anti-depressive and Naproxen were used in treatment. In all cases treatment was on an out-patient basis. Over a minimum follow-up period of six months, there was only one relapse.
Conclusions:
The study shows that although the incidence of this condition at a specialist clinic is low due to self-medication and to the fact that none of the patients was referred with this suspected diagnosis, there is an important gap in knowledge within Primary Care about this treatable condition.