Kernick D P, Reinhold D
St Thomas Health Centre, Cowick Street, Exeter EX4 4RS, UK.
Curr Med Res Opin. 2002;18(8):462-4. doi: 10.1185/030079902125000985.
Headache has a significant impact on public health in terms of quality of life and economic consequences, but in primary care, needs often remain unmet in terms of recognition, diagnosis and treatment. Our aim was to measure the prevalence of headache sufficient to affect the quality of life of undergraduate students who were entering the University of Exeter.
1124 consecutive undergraduate entrants aged 21 and under who registered at the Student Health Centre at the beginning of the academic year were invited to complete a questionnaire during their registration procedure. We used the Headache Impact Score to measure effect of headache on quality of life.
A completed questionnaire was received from 1057 (94%) students registering at the Health Centre. 212 (21%) of these students had headaches that affected the quality of their life. Of these, 95 (45%) had seen a doctor previously about their headaches and 28 (13%) had headaches on more than 15 days a month. Less than 5% were taking prescription medication. The headache impact score was 56 indicating a substantial impact on quality of life of students.
Headache has a considerable impact on the quality of life of students entering University which we speculate may have a deleterious effect on educational attainment. This study has confirmed the findings of other population groups that morbidity from headache is often unrecognised and under treated.
头痛在生活质量和经济后果方面对公众健康有重大影响，但在初级保健中，头痛在识别、诊断和治疗方面的需求往往未得到满足。我们的目的是测量足以影响埃克塞特大学本科新生生活质量的头痛患病率。
邀请1124名连续入学的21岁及以下本科新生在学年开始时到学生健康中心登记，并在登记过程中填写问卷。我们使用头痛影响评分来衡量头痛对生活质量的影响。
收到了1057名（94%）在健康中心登记的学生填写的完整问卷。其中212名（21%）学生的头痛影响了他们的生活质量。在这些学生中，95名（45%）曾因头痛看过医生，28名（13%）每月头痛超过15天。不到5%的学生正在服用处方药。头痛影响评分为56，表明对学生的生活质量有重大影响。
头痛对刚进入大学的学生的生活质量有相当大的影响，我们推测这可能对学业成绩产生有害影响。这项研究证实了其他人群的研究结果，即头痛的发病率往往未被认识到且治疗不足。
