[Headache incidence in a hospital community]

The purpose was to describe the main features of headache incidence in a hospital community, its frequency and the most requested medical investigation. Due to the stressful work environment, hospital is considered to hold a high-risk population. Interviews and questionnaires were utilized. Of a 1006 files, which were randomly filled out, 987 could be analyzed. Of all, 38.5% were from headache sufferers. By using a table of pain symptoms taken from the International Headache Society classification as a pattern, headaches were assigned as migraine, tension-type and other. The mean age was 31.18 and the frequency in females was higher than in males, at any type. Family occurrence in first-degree relatives was 76.8%. Frontal location, medium intensity and pulsation were the most described features. Stress was the most frequently mentioned trigger factor. A physician was consulted only by 41.3%. Cranium X-ray was the most frequently requested exam.