Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, 1st You Yi Road, Chongqing 400016, China.
Neurol Sci. 2012 Apr;33(2):283-7. doi: 10.1007/s10072-011-0675-4. Epub 2011 Jul 23.
The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics and patterns of diagnosis and treatment of patients with tension-type headache in the neurology outpatient clinic of a university hospital in China. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the neurological clinic of a tertiary care hospital in Chongqing between March 2010 and May 2010. All consecutive patients with the chief complaint of headache were asked to complete a face-to-face interview with physicians. A questionnaire for collecting data of headache patients was completed by a qualified physician. Headache diagnosis was made by physicians according to the criteria of the second edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders. A total of 399 patients were diagnosed as having tension-type headache, around two-thirds of them (66.9%) were female and the mean age was 44.8 ± 12.8 years. Approximately, half of the patients were diagnosed as suffering from chronic tension-type headache. Of all tension-type headache sufferers, 64.9% had consulted a physician for headache in the previous year, and only 22 patients (5.6%) had received a physician diagnosis of tension-type headache. A total of 41.4% of patients took analgesic for acute treatment and 13.3% were considered to have medication overuse, however, none had ever used any preventative medications. In conclusion, many tension-type headache patients did not receive a physician diagnosis of tension-type headache or effective treatment in the neurological clinic. Tension-type headache remains underrecognized in China. Better education among physicians is needed so as to improve the diagnosis and treatment of tension-type headache.
本研究旨在探讨中国某大学附属医院神经内科门诊紧张型头痛患者的临床特征、诊断和治疗模式。这是一项横断面研究，于 2010 年 3 月至 2010 年 5 月在重庆一家三级医院的神经科诊所进行。所有以头痛为主诉的连续患者均被要求与医生进行面对面访谈。一位合格的医生填写了一份用于收集头痛患者数据的问卷。根据国际头痛疾病分类第 2 版的标准，由医生做出头痛诊断。共诊断 399 例紧张型头痛患者，其中约三分之二（66.9%）为女性，平均年龄为 44.8 ± 12.8 岁。大约一半的患者被诊断为慢性紧张型头痛。在所有紧张型头痛患者中，64.9%的患者在过去一年中曾因头痛就诊，只有 22 名患者（5.6%）曾被医生诊断为紧张型头痛。所有紧张型头痛患者中，41.4%的患者使用镇痛药进行急性治疗，13.3%的患者被认为存在药物滥用，但均未使用预防性药物。总之，许多紧张型头痛患者在神经内科诊所未得到紧张型头痛的医生诊断或有效治疗。在中国，紧张型头痛仍未得到充分认识。需要对医生进行更好的教育，以改善紧张型头痛的诊断和治疗。
