Problem of headache: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES: To assess the medical students, interns, general practitioners, and family physicians’ perception of neurological and otolaryngeal causes of headaches. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective, qualitative, questionnaire-based cross-sectional study took place. Five hundred and seventy-one senior medical students, interns, general practitioners (GPs), and family physicians from different geographical regions in Saudi Arabia were involved in the study. An online questionnaire is used to estimate the respondents’ knowledge regarding neurological and otolaryngeal causes of headaches. The obtained data were statistically analyzed using SPSS version 21. RESULTS: Five hundred and seventy-one participants were involved in the study. They were 377 females and 194 males with a female-to-male ratio of 1.9:1. Most of them were medical students (69.9%). However, medical interns, general practitioners, and family physicians’ respondents were (17.3%), (7.5%), and (5.3%), respectively. They constituted different geographical regions of Saudi Arabia. An average level of knowledge about headaches was recorded in (55%) of the participants, while (42.7%) had a good level of knowledge about its etiologies. CONCLUSIONS: A considerable percentage of the current study population has average knowledge about neurological and otolaryngeal factors of headache. It is advocated that the current national medical curriculum be thoroughly reviewed and clear referral pathways must be established to have better management of these cases.