↓ Skip to main content

Clinical characteristics of headache in Italian adolescents aged 11–16 years: a cross-sectional questionnaire school-based study

Overview of attention for article published in Italian Journal of Pediatrics, April 2018
Altmetric Badge

Mentioned by

facebook
1 Facebook page

Citations

dimensions_citation
24 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
50 Mendeley
You are seeing a free-to-access but limited selection of the activity Altmetric has collected about this research output. Click here to find out more.
Title
Clinical characteristics of headache in Italian adolescents aged 11–16 years: a cross-sectional questionnaire school-based study
Published in
Italian Journal of Pediatrics, April 2018
DOI 10.1186/s13052-018-0486-9
Pubmed ID
Authors

Thomas Foiadelli, Alessandra Piccorossi, Lucia Sacchi, Mara De Amici, Maurizio Tucci, Ilaria Brambilla, Gian Luigi Marseglia, Salvatore Savasta, Alberto Verrotti

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine headache characteristics, impact on daily activities and medication attitudes among a large sample of adolescents in Italy. Secondary school classes were randomly selected from a national stratified multistage sampling. Data regarding socio-familial factors, headache characteristics, impact on daily activities and medication use were recorded with an anonymous multiple-choice questionnaire. The survey involved 2064 adolescents. 1950 questionnaires were considered for analysis. Study population included 944 males (48.4%) and 1006 females (51.6%), aged between 11 and 16 years (mean 13.5 ± 1.87). Headache prevalence was 65.9%. Mean age at headache onset was 8.33 years. 9.8% suffered from headache > 1/week, 14.3% > 1/month, 24.2% monthly and 17.7% less than monthly. The mean duration of a headache episode was less than 30 min in 32.9%, 1 hour in 28.1%, 2 hours in 19.3% and several hours in 19.5%. Pain intensity was moderate in 52.2% and severe in 9.5%. School represented the main trigger factor (67%). Impact on daily activities was noted in 57.5%. 69.2% of adolescents reported the use of pain relievers. Up to 5.7% declared self-medication, while only 20.6% followed a physician's prescription. Female adolescents experienced headache more frequently (70.2% vs 60%) and more intensely than male peers. Girls had a higher family history of headache, could more frequently identify a trigger factor, and were more affected into their daily activities than boys. Population-based studies of headache disorders are important, as they inform needs assessment and underpin service policy for a disease that is a public-health priority. Headache has a high prevalence among adolescents and carries a significant burden in terms of impact on daily activities and use of medication. Furthermore, underdiagnose is common, while trigger factors are often detectable. Special consideration should be given to female adolescents and self-medication attitudes.

Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 50 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 50 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 8 16%
Student > Bachelor 7 14%
Student > Master 4 8%
Student > Postgraduate 3 6%
Unspecified 2 4%
Other 10 20%
Unknown 16 32%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 12 24%
Psychology 4 8%
Social Sciences 3 6%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 2 4%
Nursing and Health Professions 2 4%
Other 8 16%
Unknown 19 38%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 09 April 2018.
All research outputs
#22,767,715
of 25,382,440 outputs
Outputs from Italian Journal of Pediatrics
#861
of 1,060 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#302,888
of 342,873 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Italian Journal of Pediatrics
#17
of 20 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,382,440 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,060 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.7. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 342,873 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 20 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 1st percentile – i.e., 1% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.