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Primary headaches prevalence, characteristics, and healthcare utilization in Italian medical students

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Abstract

Background

Among university students, migraine is notably prevalent and is linked to compromised academic performance and daily functioning. Medical students are a particularly vulnerable category due to the demanding nature of their training, as they are often exposed to headache trigger factors. We therefore aimed to determine the prevalence, characteristics, and healthcare-seeking practices of primary headaches among Italian medical students.

Methods

We conducted a cross-sectional study among medical students attending the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome who completed a self-administered questionnaire designed following the International Classification of Headache Disorders-3 criteria. The questionnaire assessed sociodemographic and headache features, healthcare utilization, the use of symptomatic and preventive treatment, and headache trigger factors.

Results

Five hundred thirty-six students filled out the questionnaire. The lifetime and last-year prevalence of headache in this cohort was 76.7% (n = 411). Among the students surveyed, migraine had a prevalence of 26.9%, probable migraine of 12.9%, and tension-type headache (TTH)/probable TTH of 36.9%. Two hundred and forty-six students (59.8%) reported that their headache worsened after starting university. All students reporting headache had at least one trigger factor. In students fulfilling the criteria for migraine (n = 144), 137 (95.1%) had previously used acute non-prescription treatments, and eight concurrently used a preventive treatment. Thirty-five students fulfilling the criteria for migraine underwent a brain MRI scan (24.3%), 43 performed a neurological evaluation (29.9%), 36 received a diagnosis of migraine (25%), and 20 (13.9%) accessed the emergency room.

Discussion

Migraine and TTH are common among medical students in Italy despite low healthcare resource utilization. These results support the need to promote public health policies and strategies in order to reduce the disability and burden associated with primary headaches among medical students.

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Funding

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento Universitario di Neuroscienze, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Agostino Gemelli n° 8, 00168, Rome, Italy

    Marina Romozzi, Vincenzo Trigila, Paolo Calabresi & Catello Vollono

  2. Neurologia, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Organi di Senso e Torace, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy

    Marina Romozzi & Paolo Calabresi

  3. Oculistica, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy

    Giovanni Cuffaro

  4. Neurofisiopatologia, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Organi di Senso e Torace, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Rome, Italy

    Catello Vollono

Authors
  1. Marina Romozzi
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  2. Vincenzo Trigila
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  3. Giovanni Cuffaro
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  4. Paolo Calabresi
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  5. Catello Vollono
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marina Romozzi.

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Romozzi, M., Trigila, V., Cuffaro, G. et al. Primary headaches prevalence, characteristics, and healthcare utilization in Italian medical students. Neurol Sci 45, 2893–2897 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-024-07375-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-024-07375-1

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