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. 2007 Dec 10;8(6):321–324. doi: 10.1007/s10194-007-0423-6

Validation of a Georgian language headache questionnaire in a population-based sample

Maka Kukava 1, Anna Dzagnidze 1, Eka Mirvelashvili 1, Mamuka Djibuti 1, Guenther Fritsche 1, Rigmor Jensen 1, Lars J Stovner 1, Timothy J Steiner 1, Zaza Katsarava 1,✉
PMCID: PMC2779392  PMID: 18074104

Abstract

In a pilot phase of a survey of the prevalence of primary headache disorders in the Republic of Georgia, we validated a Georgian language questionnaire for migraine (MIG), tension-type headache (TTH), MIG+TTH and trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TAC). A population-based sample of 186 people with headache completed the questionnaire and were blindly examined by one of two headache experts. The questionnaire diagnoses were: MIG 49, TTH 76, MIG+TTH 45 and TAC 16. The physicians’diagnoses were: MIG 59, TTH 77, MIG+TTH 34, TAC 2 and “symptomatic headache” in 14 subjects. Sensitivity and specificity for MIG were 0.75 and 0.96, for TTH 0.79 and 0.86, and for MIG+TTH 0.61 and 0.84 respectively. Of 16 TAC diagnoses, the physicians confirmed cluster headache in two patients only. The questionnaire can be utilised to investigate the prevalence of MIG and of TTH. It offers preliminary screening only for TAC, which should be confirmed during a face to face examination.

Keywords: Headache, Questionnaire, Migraine, Tensiontype headache, Trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, Validity

Full Text

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Lifting The Burden: the Global Campaign to Reduce the Burden of Headache Worldwide and the Russian Linguistic Subcommittee of the International Headache Society.

Footnotes

This is a “Springer Open Choice” article. Unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium is permitted, provided the original author and source are credited.

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10194-008-0023-0

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