Headache Disorders in Mexican Medical Students Registry: A Cross-sectional Study
Denisse Martinez Roque1, Rodolfo Roman Guzman1, Arturo Lara1, Melissa Hernández-Vega2, Francisco Rubio3, Guadalupe Rojas3, Ildefonso Rodriguez-Leyva4
1Neurology, Hospital Central “Dr. Ignacio Morones Prieto, 2Department of Neurology, Inflammatory, Autoimmune and Demyelinating Diseases Clinic, Instituto Nacional de Neurología y Neurocirugía “Manuel Velasco Suárez “, 3Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosi, 4Neurology, Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosi
Objective:
This study aims to assess: 1) the prevalence of primary headaches (PH) among medical students in Mexico; (2) to describe risk factors for Tensional Type Headache (TTH) and Migraine Headache (MH).
Background:
Headache is worldwide frequent, with an adult prevalence of 52%. There is a lack of data about headaches in the young population in Latin America. Occupational factors and emotional stress may play a role in the pathogenesis of headache, and this may explain a greater prevalence among medical students compared to general population.
Design/Methods:
An online survey was conducted among undergraduate medical students in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, from September 29th, 2023 to October 09th, 2023. For data collection, a semi-structured questionnaire was used, and a third independent blinded neurologist made diagnoses based on ICHD-3 criteria. The data was analyzed using IBM-SPSS V.25 for Mac.
Results:
336 cases were analyzed, 138 (41.1%) male and 198 (58.9%) female, with 20.79 years old on average (SD 2.518). 247 (76.5%) individuals referred any type of headache, 42.8% out of those positive for TTH, 17.1% for MH, 8.6% for both MH/TTH and 31.5% did not fulfill criteria for MH nor for TTH. Medication overuse (MO) was found in 49%. MH was more prevalent in Female VS Male (30.4% VS 18%; P=0.31), TTH was more frequent in smokers VS non-smokers (64% vs 48.5%; P 0.46). Pain intensity was higher in MH VS non-MH (6.15 VS 5.16, T-student test, P=0.000), and MO was also more prevalent in patients with MH (64.2% vs 43.7%, P=0.004).
Conclusions:
In this first Mexican study of headache in medical students, it is confirmed that PH are more prevalent than in general population. These findings offer an important reference to promote screening and interventions to improve quality of life in our future healthcare professionals.