Table 5.
Characteristics of all participants not seeking medical advice, and reasons for not doing so
| Enquiry | Response according to reported headache frequency | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How often do you have headache (past year)? | All participants n = 731 (100%) | At least once a week n = 369 (50.5%) | A couple of times a month n = 313 (42.8%) | A couple of times a year n = 44 (6.9%) | Less frequently n = 5 (0.7%) |
| Age, years | |||||
| Mean ± SD | 40.5 ± 12.1 | 38.6 ± 11.8 | 42.0 ± 11.7 | 45.1 ± 14.0 | 53 ± 7.5 |
| Proportion, n (%) | |||||
| Gender | |||||
| Male | 158 (21.6%) | 76 (20.6%) | 64 (20.4%) | 15 (34.1%) | 3 (60.0%) |
| Female | 573 (78.4%) | 293 (79.4%) | 249 (79.6%) | 29 (65.9%) | 2 (40.0%) |
| Headache type | |||||
| Tension-type headache | 444 (60.7%) | 239 (64.8%) | 185 (59.1%) | 19 (43.2%) | 1 (20.0%) |
| Migraine | 237 (32.4%) | 115 (31.2%) | 106 (33.9%) | 15 (34.1%) | 1 (20%) |
| Cluster headache | 9 (1.2%) | 7 (1.9%) | 2 (0.6%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Post-traumatic headache | 25 (3.4%) | 19 (5.1%) | 6 (1.9%) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Other headache disorder | 59 (8.1%) | 33 (8.9%) | 22 (7.0%) | 4 (9.1%) | 0 (0%) |
| Unknown | 232 (31.7%) | 118 (32.0%) | 94 (30.0%) | 17 (38.6%) | 3 (60.0%) |
| I am able to manage my headache attacks well | |||||
| Strongly agree | 55 (7.5%) | 12 (3.3%) | 27 (8.6%) | 13 (29.5%) | 3 (60.0%) |
| Agree | 266 (36.4%) | 107 (29.0%) | 141 (45.0%) | 16 (36.4%) | 2 (40.0%) |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 264 (36.1%) | 153 (41.5%) | 99 (31.6%) | 12 (27.3%) | 0 (0%) |
| Disagree | 129 (17.6%) | 86 (23.3%) | 42 (13.4%) | 1 (2.3%) | 0 (12.5%) |
| Strongly disagree | 17 (2.3%) | 11 (3.0%) | 4 (1.3%) | 2 (4.5%) | 0 (0%) |
| My headache is a burden on my everyday life | |||||
| Strongly agree | 128 (17.5%) | 91 (24.7%) | 35 (11.2%) | 2 (4.5%) | 0 (0%) |
| Agree | 365 (49.9%) | 206 (55.8%) | 153 (48.9%) | 6 (13.6%) | 0 (0%) |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 131 (17.9%) | 51 (13.8%) | 70 (22.4%) | 10 (22.7%) | 0 (0%) |
| Disagree | 78 (10.7%) | 18 (4.9%) | 46 (14.7%) | 13 (29.5%) | 1 (20.0%) |
| Strongly disagree | 29 (4.0%) | 3 (0.8%) | 9 (2.9%) | 13 (29.5%) | 4 (80.0%) |
| Reason for not seeking care | |||||
| My headache is not bad enough to go to the doctor | 162 (22.2%) | 48 (13.0%) | 92 (29.4%) | 19 (43.2%) | 3 (60.0%) |
| I have considered talking to my doctor but have not been able to do so | 161 (22.0%) | 92 (24.9%) | 60 (19.2%) | 9 (20.5%) | 0 (0%) |
| I do not know if my doctor can help me with my headache | 269 (36.8%) | 162 (43.9%) | 98 (31.3%) | 8 (18.2%) | 1 (20.0%) |
| I do not need my doctor's help to manage my headache | 73 (10.0%) | 44 (11.9%) | 28 (8.9%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (20.0%) |
| Other | 66 (9.0%) | 23 (6.2%) | 35 (11.2%) | 8 (18.2%) | 0 (0%) |