IMPACT OF HEADACHES ON LEARNING AMONG MEDICAL COLLEGE STUDENTS

Headaches as one of the most common neurological disorders can distress people regardless of sex, age, education, occupation and socioeconomic status. The research aims to determine the impact of headaches on learning among medical college students. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 229 students from the P. Stradins Medical College of the University of Latvia. The study was conducted from February 20 till March 20 in 2024. Results of the study revealed that headaches affect both ability to focus and daily learning performance. Although 72.1% of respondents indicated that their grades remained unchanged, 24% reported that their learning performance worsened and 3.06% reported significant difficulties in learning performance. Students reported that headaches mainly affect all daily activities (36.7%) and learning process (27.5%). The correlation analysis showed moderate correlation between frequency of headaches and used medications (rs=0.47; p<0.001), and between headaches and difficulties during learing process (rs=0.53; p<0.05). Likewise thare was a strong correlation between headaches in last three months and pain intensity (rs=0.60; p<0.05). Results showed that headaches affect students’ learning process and daily activities, despite the fact that majority of them do not have a diagnosis for headaches. The study highlights the necessity of early identification and prevention strategies to reduce the burden of headaches in academic settings.