Prevalence of headaches in a Chinese elderly population in Kinmen: age and gender effect and cross-cultural comparisons.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the prevalence of headaches in a Chinese elderly population.

BACKGROUND

There are few headache surveys in the elderly. Previous studies have shown a low headache prevalence in Chinese.

TARGET POPULATION: eligible registered residents > or = 65 years old (N = 2,003) in two townships of Kinmen Island on August 1, 1993. All participants completed a headache questionnaire and underwent clinical evaluation and examination by a neurologist. Headache diagnoses were made according to the International Headache Society, 1988.

RESULTS

1,533 persons (77%) participated in the study, of whom 584 (38%) had at least one episode of headache in the previous year. One-year prevalence of migraine was 3.0%, and tension-type headache, 35%. The prevalence of migraine, but not tension-type headaches, continued to decline with age in the elderly. Life-time prevalence of "incapacitating headache" was 10%, and that of migraine, 5.2%. Forty-two percent of migraineurs stopped having migraine before this survey. In comparison with "10 years ago" 8% participants felt their current headaches were worse, 25% better, and 67%, no change, with a net improvement of 17%.

CONCLUSIONS

We have reported the highest headache prevalence among different Chinese elderly populations, but these were still lower than those reported from Western series. More than half of the elderly life-time migraineurs still had attacks of migraine. Severe headaches, including migraine but not tension-type headaches, declined with age.