Prevalence of migraine and tension-type headache among school children in Yazd, Iran

OBJECTIVE: The etiology and pathogenesis of migraine and other types of headache are still under discussion. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of migraine and tension-type headache and its association with demographic variables among schoolchildren. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed on 930 school children (aged 12–14 years) through cluster sampling method. International Headache Society criteria were used for diagnosis. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used for data analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of migraine headache was 12.3% (95% CI: 10.2–14.4) and tension-type headache was 4.2% (95% CI: 2.9-5.6). The factor associated with migraine in multivariate analysis were age and sleep disturbances. CONCLUSIONS: Migraine is common among school children, although it may be under-recognized. Because children with migraine and tension-type headache have a high prevalence of sleep disturbances, they should always be evaluated for the presence of sleep problems.