Profile of childhood headaches in a tertiary center

BackgroundThe aims of this study were to analyze the profile of childhood headache complaints in a tertiary headache center, verify the differences between children and adolescents, and provide the clinical characteristics that are related to the headaches.MethodsA review of 384 medical records of children aged between 4-12 years old (n=206) and adolescents (n=178) aged >12 to 18 years old. The variables evaluated were reported as percentages, compared between children and adolescents and selected the variables that were related to headaches diagnosis.ResultsThe majority of the sample were females (60.7%), diagnosis of migraine (70.3%), pulsatile pain (60.2%), episodic attacks (60.2%) and no need for imaging tests associated with the diagnosis (69.3%), which were associated with different clinical characteristics (LR X2(52); p<0.001; Log likelihood = -322.434; Pseud R2 = 0.154). The group of adolescents had a higher proportion of use of antidepressants (29.8%) as prophylactic medication than children, who on the other hand, had a higher prevalence of use of antivertiginous drugs (32%). The abortive medication used was common analgesics (37.8%) and the main outcome after treatment was discharge from the service (32%).ConclusionThe evaluation and the treatment for these patients should take into account the main complaints, considering the particularities of each type of headache and also the age group, in order to identify, treat the disease properly and avoid chronification and continuity in the tertiary service, referring them to less complex services.