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. 2009 Apr 23;10(4):265–270. doi: 10.1007/s10194-009-0122-6

Prevalence of migraine and tension-type headache among adults in Jordan

Karem H Alzoubi 1,✉, Nizar Mhaidat 1, Sayer Al azzam 1, Yousef Khader 2, Saad Salem 1, Hanin Issaifan 1, Rania Haddadin 1
PMCID: PMC3451745  PMID: 19387792

Abstract

Here, we investigated the prevalence of headache among adults in Jordan. The study was conducted from January 2007 to November 2008. A sample of 4,836 participants were permitted to complete a self-conducted screening questionnaire. As much as 82.3% of participants complained from headache at least once per year. 36.1% were tension-type headache and 59% of the participants had other family members who suffered from headache. Headaches affected everyday activities in 51.6% of the participants; 82.7% of participants did not seek medical attention for their headaches. Among those who used analgesics (75.6%), acetaminophen was the most common (91.43%). In conclusion, headache and overuse of analgesics were prevalent in a significant part of the society. Thus, there is a need to educate the public to ensure safe practices and to make the use and selling of analgesics more stringent.

Keywords: Headache, Prevalence, Analgesics, Self-medication, Jordan

Full Text

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Ilham Swaidan PharmD, Alia Alasfar PharmD and Rana Aljaber PharmD for their help in data entry.

Conflict of interest

None.

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