Headache among adults and its effect on quality of life in a town of western Turkey

Objective: to determine the prevalence of headache and evaluate its effect on health related quality of life (hrqol). methodology: this cross-sectional study was conducted on 410 adults aged 20-64 years residing in a town of western turkey between 01 sep., 2008 and 30 nov., 2008. the evaluation of headache was scored according to the diagnosis criteria of the international headache society. the sf-36 scale was used to rate the hrqol. the statistical analysis was carried out using chi-square (x2) and one-way anova test. a value of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. results: the mean scores for subjects with headache for all the domains in the scale were significantly higher than those without (p<0.05, for each one). the distribution of the severity of headache was as follows: mild 41.0%, moderate 31.4%, severe 27.6%. in all the domains of sf-36, as the severity of headache increased, the scores received from the domains of sf-36 showed decrease except for the mental health (p<0.05, for each one). conclusion: this study found that the prevalence of headache was rather high, reaching almost three quarters (71.5%). this indicates the need for knowledge concerning headache still exists and needs to be addressed by health education programs.