Impact of primary headache on quality of life in military policemen and its relation to common mental disorder

Abstract

Objective: To determine the impact caused by primary headache on quality of life in military policemen of Recife and its relation to the presence of common mental disorders. Methods: This is a transversal study with 211 active policemen, aged between 20 and 50 years (33.0 ± 7.7 years). The presence of headache was evaluated by using a questionnaire based on ICHD-II, in the last three months. To evaluate the impact of the headache it was used the Headache Impact Test-6. The indicative of probable case of common mental disorder was done by the Self Reporting Questionnaire-20. Pain intensity was measured using a numeric pain rating scale. Results: 142/211 officers (67.3%) had headache in the last three months. 57/142 (40.1%) were placed in the most severe category in HIT-6. Common mental disorders were observed in 82/142 (57.7%). There was a significant correlation between the intensity of pain reported by the subjects and the score obtained in HIT-6 (r2=0.2466; p<0.0001), as well as between the intensity of pain and the score found in the SRQ-20 (r2=0.0887; p<0.0003). The ten officers who reported to have never had an episode of headache in their lifetime had neither symptoms of mental distress nor were dissatisfied with their work activity. Conclusion: The presence of headache in the military policemen of Recife, in the last three months, caused a negative impact on their quality of life, as well as, a higher indicative of non-psychotic psychiatric morbidity in these individuals.