Tension-type headache in children: A clinical evaluation

Background : Anxiety and psychological stress are often pre‐existing factors which can trigger pediatric tension‐type headaches. Methods : Sixteen children (10 girls and six boys) aged between 7 and 18 years who fulfilled the International Headache Society (IHS) criteria for episodic tension‐type he...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Pediatrics international Vol. 45; no. 2; pp. 186 - 189
Main Authors:	Sarioglu, Berrak, Erhan, Elvan, Serdaroglu, Gul, Doering, Birgul Gokce, Erermis, Serpil, Tutuncuoglu, Sarenur
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford, UK Blackwell Science Pty 01-04-2003
Subjects:	Adolescent Anxiety - complications Child children Family Relations Female headache Humans Male Prospective Studies psychiatric disorder Schools Stress, Psychological - complications Tension-Type Headache - etiology Tension-Type Headache - psychology
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Summary:	Background : Anxiety and psychological stress are often pre‐existing factors which can trigger pediatric tension‐type headaches. Methods : Sixteen children (10 girls and six boys) aged between 7 and 18 years who fulfilled the International Headache Society (IHS) criteria for episodic tension‐type headache were included in the present study. Pain characteristics, associated symptoms, and stress‐triggering factors were evaluated. Psychiatric and psychosocial evaluations were performed according to DSM‐IV criteria. Results : Pain was bilateral in 93.7% of patients and bitemporal in 50% of children. The intensity of pain increased with motion and stress in more than half of the patients, while pain decreased with rest and massage in 43.7% of patients. Ten of the 16 (62.5%) patients were diagnosed as having a psychiatric disorder. The most common stress‐triggering factors were difficulty in adaptation at school and relationship problems with family members. All of the children reported 26 stress factors. Of these stress factors, 20 (76.9%) were reported by children diagnosed with psychiatric disorder. Conclusion : These results suggest that in children with tension‐type headache a thorough psychiatric evaluation should be performed to rule out underlying psychiatric disorders.
Bibliography:	istex:2443BB2D0FB009B7C4B9837CE49B91EFF13E4782 ark:/67375/WNG-F3853H74-9 ArticleID:PED1678 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1328-8067 1442-200X
DOI:	10.1046/j.1442-200X.2003.01678.x