Tension-type headache in Parma’s adult general population: a focus on age of onset

Abstract

In the present paper, we focus on the age of onset for tension-type headache in a population-based sample in the Parma, distinguishing its different subtypes and considering definite and probable diagnoses. Age of headache onset is a useful clinical feature for differential diagnosis between primary headaches and between primary and secondary headache forms. A total of 904 subjects representative of the Parma’s adult general population were interviewed face to face by a physician from the Parma Headache Centre, using a validated questionnaire specially designed for the diagnosis of primary headaches according to the ICHD-II criteria. In the majority of subjects diagnosed with definite tension-type headache, age of onset was 39 years or less, while mean age of onset was 29.7 years (SD 16.3 years, range 5–79 years), the median being 25 years. Both infrequent and frequent episodic definite tension-type headache first occurred in the majority of cases in the second, third and fourth decades. Subjects with chronic definite tension-type headache reported a later onset in life (i.e. fourth, fifth and sixth decades). In our study, mean age of onset for probable tension-type headache was 23.7 years (SD 9.2 years, range 10–40 years) and the median was 22 years. In no case did we find significant gender differences. Our study results are similar to most of those reported in the literature. Further research needs to be done in the Italian epidemiological context, given the lack of literature reports on this topic.