Rt. Haimanot et al., MIGRAINE, CHRONIC TENSION-TYPE HEADACHE, AND CLUSTER HEADACHE IN AN ETHIOPIAN RURAL-COMMUNITY, Cephalalgia, 15(6), 1995, pp. 482-488
Fiffeen-thousand-five-hundred adults (greater than or equal to 20 year
s) in a rural district in Ethiopia with a population of 250 000 were s
tudied for chronic headache. Door-to-door survey was performed hy trai
ned lay health workers using a questionnaire with a high degree or rel
iability and validity. The 1-year prevalence of migraine headache was
3.0% (4.2% for females and 1.7% for males) with the peak age specific
rate in the fourth decade. Migraine headache was about three times mor
e common in females than in males at any decade. Two-thirds of migrain
e sufferers had rather frequent attacks. The most frequent trigger fac
tors were emotional stress (90%), changes of weather (78%), physical e
xhaustion (75%), and smell (70%). Migraine with aura was rare. Family
occurrence of migraine in first-degree relatives was 30%. The 1-year p
revalence of chronic tension-type headache was 1.7% rare. Compared to
similarly performed surveys, the prevalence of migraine among rural Et
hiopians was less than among Nigerian Africans.