Headache Medicine, v.2, n.2, p.75, Apr./May/Jun. 2011 75
A continuum of attacks between tension-type headache and
migraine: elaboration of a diagnostic score based on their
clinical characteristics (Abstract)
Um continuum de crises entre cefaleia do tipo tensional e migrânea: elaboração
de um escore diagnóstico baseado nas suas características clínicas (Resumo)
Joaquim José de Souza Costa Neto
Universidade Federal de Pernambuco. Pós-graduação de Neuropsiquiatria e Ciências do Comportamento
(área de concentração: Neurologia). Ph.D. Thesis. Recife, 2011. Orientador: Marcelo Moraes Valença
Costa Neto JJS. A continuum of attacks between tension-type headache and migraine: elaboration of a
diagnostic score based on their clinical characteristics (Abstract). Headache Medicine. 2011;2(2):75
Headaches have been described since time immemorial.
The systematic use of the diagnostic criteria of the International
Headache Society has contributed to homogenize the research
results.
The objective of the present study is to analyze the
epidemiological profile and the clinical characteristics of
headaches diagnosed in a population selected for this reason
so as to make possible the elaboration of a diagnostic score
applicable to migraine and to tension-type headache. In a
cross-sectional study there were evaluated 121 professionals,
all university graduates comprising the corps of nurses of a
university hospital. Ages of these professionals ranged from
27 to 63 years.
The methodological approach to the study can be
summarised in the nosological classification of the existing
headaches, in the classification and analysis of the clinical
characteristics of the occasional attacks during the two months
of observation, in the comparison of characteristics according
to the nosology of the headache and, finally, to elaborate a
diagnostic score based upon the quantitative aspects of the
migraine attacks. There was a slightly higher prevalence of
the tension type headache (71.9% over migraine (70.2%) in
the test group, although there was a higher incidence of attacks
of migraine (47.0%) over attacks of tension-type headache
(41.3%) during the period of the study. The migraine attacks
lasted from 4 to 72 hours (100%), were predominantly bilateral
(61.7%), of pulsating type (54.1%), were of moderate to severe
intensity (93.2%), were aggravated by routine physical activity
(93.2%) and always associated with accompanying symptoms
(100%). Generally the tension-type headache attacks lasted
less than four hours (71.8%), were bilateral (73.6%) of heavy
pressure-like character (84.7%), were of mild to moderate
intensity (98.4%), were not aggravated by routine physical
activity (66.7%) and, habitually, not associated with
accompanying symptoms (84.6%). When varying a succession
of natural numbers from zero to 100, this diagnostic score
showed a common interval for both type of analysed attacks,
thus characterising a continuum between the two.
One concludes that there exists a continuum of attacks
for both tension-type headache and migraine whose
differentiation can be ascertained through the application of
a diagnostic score validated for this objective.
Correspondence
DrDr
DrDr
Dr
. Joaquim José de Souza Costa Neto. Joaquim José de Souza Costa Neto
. Joaquim José de Souza Costa Neto. Joaquim José de Souza Costa Neto
. Joaquim José de Souza Costa Neto
joaqcosta@yahoo.com.br
THESES
