A Study on Headache Disorder in Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia Review (October 2013)

Abstract

Headache is the most common central nervous system
disorders & one of commonest health problem (1).
It has psychological, social & economic effect on the patients &
their surrounding populations. Although many epidemiological
studies about headache disorders are performed yearly; they are
only partially documented. Those studies are performed mainly
in the developed countries & only few numbers of studies was
performed in the developing countries because of the limited
resources & funding and the present of difficult to be reached
cites or villages.
Objectives
The aim of our study is to define the problem of headache
worldwide & to compare the world wide studies & experiences
with studies published in Arabian Gulf countries & Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia (KSA); to gain better understanding of the burden
of headache & situation of headache care in our country; if it is
satisfying the patient and if the health resources are well utilized
to decrease their suffering. Worldwide experience should be used
to put helpful solutions & to make the management of headache
disorders in our country more effective & efficient.
Methods
Review of most relevant worldwide studies related to
international headache epidemiology including Arabian Gulf
countries & burden of headache worldwide. We searched studies
published on PubMed & Google scholar for the most relevant &
updated studies.
An electronic survey that was performed will be discussed to,
those surveys were spread through social websites to get some
ideas about general populations & physicians opinions on recent
status of headache care provided to headache patients & the idea
of initiating a specialized headache clinic in Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia.
Results
In KSA; prevalence of headache was measured through
small number of studies; 1-year prevalence of all headache was
63% & it is accounted for 13% of all neurological outpatients.
More than one-third of school students were absent from school
due to headache. Mean headache-attributed lost work-days per
person/year was 24.0 days for migraine, 6.6 days for Tension type
headache (TTH ) & 53.4 days for medication overuse headache .
The results of our 3 questionnaires show that; almost half of
our samples have monthly attacks of headache & around 10-15%
have daily headache attacks. More than one third of the
responders mentioned that headache prevent them from
performing their daily activity , it causes social isolation in more
than 20 % of them , in almost equal percentage it is affect their
relations & it is affect the school or work attendance in 8.33-
9.3% of them.
Almost all of our responders agree that there is a need for
more organization in management of headache cases & more
education for headache patients in KSA.
Conclusion
Epidemiological studies worldwide show that headache has a
high prevalence & burden; most of the developed country initiate
headache organizations, programs that is aiming for physician
educations & specialized headache clinic. Studies in KSA show
that headache is affecting people life & most of the patients do
not know where to go to manage their headaches. More
organized headache care is needed & a Saudi headache society
should be built to perform more studies & provide optimal care
for headache patients.