Torelli Paola, Castellini Paola, Cucurachi Laura, Devetak Massimiliano, Lambru Giorgio, Manzoni Gian Camillo
Headache Center, Section of Neurology, Department of Neurosciences, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Acta Biomed. 2006 Apr;77(1):4-9.
Cluster headache (CH), also known as "suicide headache", is characterized by a distinctive periodic temporal pattern and by accompanying autonomic symptoms during the attacks. Epidemiological data for the general population are scarce: only five studies have been carried out until now on CH prevalence in the general population, with conflicting results (prevalence rates vary between 56 and 326 cases every 100,000 inhabitants). Recently, a study was performed to investigate a representative sample of the Italian general population aged over 14 years. Possible CH cases according to the diagnostic criteria of the 1988 International Headache Society (IHS) classification were screened out of a sample of 10,071 patients registered in the lists of seven general practitioners (GPs) in Parma, using a previously validated, specially designed self-administered questionnaire. The diagnosis of CH was confirmed in 21 subjects (nine women and 12 men). The estimated prevalence rate was 279/100,000 (95% CI: 173-427), 227/100,000 (95% CI: 104-431) in women and 338/100,000 (95% CI: 175-592) in men. Based on methodological considerations, we believe that a lifetime prevalence rate of 279/100,000 for a population aged over 14 years is a reliable figure and it is probably not much lower than in the whole general population, since some studies performed on large case series have shown that the onset of CH is not frequent under 14 years of age.
丛集性头痛（CH），也被称为“自杀性头痛”，其特点是具有独特的周期性发作模式，且发作时伴有自主神经症状。普通人群的流行病学数据匮乏：迄今为止，仅开展了五项关于普通人群中丛集性头痛患病率的研究，结果相互矛盾（患病率在每10万居民中为56至326例不等）。最近，一项研究针对意大利14岁以上普通人群的代表性样本展开。依据1988年国际头痛协会（IHS）分类的诊断标准，从帕尔马七名全科医生（GP）登记名单中的10071名患者样本里，通过一份先前经验证的、专门设计的自填问卷筛选出可能的丛集性头痛病例。21名受试者（9名女性和12名男性）被确诊为丛集性头痛。估计患病率为279/10万（95%可信区间：173 - 427），女性为227/10万（95%可信区间：104 - 431），男性为338/10万（95%可信区间：175 - 592）。基于方法学考量，我们认为14岁以上人群279/10万的终生患病率是一个可靠数字，且可能并不比整个人群低太多，因为一些针对大病例系列的研究表明，丛集性头痛在14岁以下并不常见。
