Headaches are a ubiquitous phenomenon that affect individuals across the globe, with sleep and neck problems representing some of the most common migraine triggers. According to the Norwegian Advisory Unit on Headaches, however, the prevalence of headaches among different regions differs significantly based on a variety of presently unknown factors. Researchers around the world—led by a team from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology—hope to get to the bottom of this discrepancy, and have embarked on a journey to ascertain the causes of headaches among individuals in different nations by analyzing responses to a survey recently published in the Journal of Headache and Pain. This questionnaire seeks to gain information about a variety of potential headache causes by soliciting information about patient health issues, quality of life, family dynamics, and other relevant factors.
While according to the World Health Organization (WHO) migraines represent the seventh most common cause of disability in the world, this condition has yet to be adequately addressed by the global medical community, in part owing to the diversity of environmental conditions that are widely believed to contribute to this condition. The present study hopes to mitigate much of the uncertainty surrounding headache causes and treatments by providing doctors around the world with data useful in the development of approaches to migraine headaches that take into account cultural, economic, genetic, and other regional factors that may contribute to the development of migraines among diverse sets of individuals.
The questionnaire at the center of this study has been carefully designed to address a number of perceived shortcomings in prior surveys on this matter. Other studies indicate that survey results can vary wildly depending on how and when respondents are approached. For example, an in-person interview may elicit a very different response than one conducted over the phone, and an individual’s perception of his or her level of pain may differ depending on whether the day in question is a work day or an off day.
This being the case, the present questionnaire was born out of a rigorous process entailing extensive literary review, analysis of prior surveys, collaborative efforts on the part of experts in the field, and a great deal of trial and error. The result is a survey that has taken ten years to produce, has been translated into a variety of languages, and reflects the expertise of representatives from all six WHO regions. Three to four years from now, project leaders Lars Jacob Stovner and Timothy J. Steiner intend to have collected data from thirty countries in a variety of regions with the goal of obtaining comparable results across nations.
Ultimately, this tool is likely to provide answers to a host of unanswered questions about the complex roots of migraine headaches. Moreover, it offers hope to doctors and patients interested in the possibility of relieving headache pain without drugs.
At Rowe Neurology Institute, we have the most current diagnostic tools, and a staff of neurologists and integrated caregivers who specialize in diagnosing and treating headaches and migraines. We’ve treated literally tens of thousands of headache patients in the Kansas City region at our Headache Center. Take your life back from migraines. We’ll show you how.