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Which strategy should be applied? Design of a Norwegian epidemiological survey on chronic headache
Author(s) -
Russell M. B.,
Aaseth K.,
Grande R. B.,
Gulbrandsen P.,
Lundqvist C.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0404.2007.00849.x
Subject(s) - epidemiology , medicine , norwegian , medical diagnosis , population , headache disorders , family medicine , physical therapy , psychiatry , pediatrics , migraine , pathology , philosophy , linguistics , environmental health
Background – Large‐scale population‐based epidemiological surveys on chronic headache based on clinical interview by a physician are lacking. Aims of the study – To describe a method that aims to provide valid information on chronic headache. Method – A self‐administered questionnaire including two questions about headache frequency within the last month and within the last year was used to screen for possible chronic headache. Respondents with self‐reported headache more than half of the days were interviewed by neurological residents with experience in headache diagnostics. Discussion – Previous studies have shown that a single question from a self‐administered questionnaire can be used to screen for chronic headache. However, a precise headache diagnosis requires an interview by a physician experienced in headache diagnostics, as diagnoses extracted from questionnaires or provided by lay interviewers are not sufficiently precise. Conclusions – A combination of a screening questionnaire and a clinical interview by a physician is likely to be a cost‐effective method to conduct an epidemiological survey on chronic headache.