Frequency of headache among the employees of a rubber company in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Primary headaches may be responsible for absenteeism and a fall in the yield and productivity of work. The aim of this study was to establish the presence and frequency of primary headache among employees of a rubber shoe sole company, and its link to absenteeism.

DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional study carried out with help from the staff of the medical and social department of a rubber factory located in the municipality of Franca, São Paulo.

METHOD: A questionnaire on headache characteristics was distributed to all employees. The returned and completed questionnaires were divided into two groups: with and without reports of headache. The headaches were classified into four main groups: migraine, tension-type headache (TTH), cluster headache and others. In terms of the reported frequency, headaches were also classified as chronic daily headache (CDH).

RESULTS: The number of valid questionnaires was 392 (59%); 80.9% were from male and 19.1% from female employees. Headaches were reported by 120 subjects (30.6%), with 17.4% belonging to the migraine group and 8.9% to the TTH group. Migraine was more frequent (p < 0.001) among all participants and also among the women (p < 0.05). TTH was more frequent among the men (p < 0.05). CDH was identified in 14 individuals (3.6%).

CONCLUSIONS: Headache was a common problem among the employees of this company and was a cause of absenteeism for 8.7% of the respondents to the questionnaire.