Prevalence of Headache and its impacts on Academic and Social lives Among University Students in Egypt: A Cross-Sectional Study
Omnia Samy El-Sayed1, Moaz Elsayed Abouelmagd2, Abdelfattah Arafa3, Hadeer Hafez4, Mona Sajed5, Momen Samy Syaj1, Hanaa M. Abo Shereda6, Abdelrhman Semary4, Safaa Hassan Zaki Abbas7, Abeer Hany8, Shaimaa A. Elaidy9, Assia Zanat10, Mohamed Ahmed Tolba11
1Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Sharkia, Egypt, 2Kasr-alainy faculty of medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, University. Egyp, 3Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Damietta, Egypt, 4Faculty of Medicine, October 6th University, Giza, Egypt, 5Faculty of Pharmacy, AlAzhar University for Girls, Cairo, Egypt, 6Assistant professor of Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Menoufia University, Shibin El Kom 32511, Egypt, 7Alexandria Clinical Research Administration, Alexandria Health Affairs Directorate, Alexandria, Egypt, 8Faculty of medicine Al-Azhar university, Assiut, Egypt, 9Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Sharkia, Egypt, 10Kyiv Medical University of UAFM, Kyiv, Kyiv City, UA, 11Faculty of Medicine, MUST University, Giza, Egypt
Objective:

To assess the prevalence of headache among university students in various universities in Egypt and to investigate its effects on their academic and social lives.

Background:

Headache disorders are prevalent health issues, with studies indicating high lifetime and point prevalence rates, particularly among university students. These conditions can significantly impact students' academic performance, leading to absenteeism, reduced productivity, and more discipline failures. Understanding the prevalence and effects of headaches is crucial to support students' overall well-being and academic success.

Design/Methods:

The cross-sectional data of university students was obtained by online or offline survey. We performed a pilot study to make sure the questions were easy-to-understand for the Egyptian community. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to test the reliability and internal consistency of each scale. We also performed logistic regression to investigate the association between headache and academic performance, daily activity, quality of life, productivity, and sleep patterns of participants.

Results:

This study included 3720 young adults. In the multivariable model, medical students (OR = 1.65, p < 0.001), females (OR = 2.89, p < 0.001), and older students had higher odds of headaches. Smoking was associated with less headaches in binary model (OR = 0.64, p = 0.046), but the frequency of headaches was not associated with smoking (p > 0.05). The highest frequency of headaches was in a dose–response manner with severe HIT-6 score (OR = 2.58 to 3.65, p < 0.001) and lower quality of life scores (B = –1.61 to –3.01, p < 0.001) and were also related to sleep patterns (all p < 0.001). The GPA was not statistically significant.

Conclusions:

Overweight/obesity increased headache frequency while smoking appeared to have a protective association for all rather than the frequency. There may be opportunities to reduce headache burden, especially through addressing sleep, weight, and other modifiable factors in this population.

 

10.1212/WNL.0000000000216180
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