PEDIATRIC HEADACHES - WHAT DO THE CHILDREN WANT

One hundred consecutive children (aged 3 to 17 years), drawn from prim ary care pediatric clinics, with a greater than 3-month history of hea daches completed surveys to determine the type and associated features of their headache and to query their reasons for wanting to see a phy sician. Additionally, the children were asked to draw pictures of how they felt when they had a headache to assess their nonverbal perceptio ns. Over 90% of the headaches were migrainous (65% common. 23% classic , 5% basilar). The children wanted three answers from the physician: w hat was the cause of their headache, what would make it better, and re assurrance that they had no life-threatening illness. Furthermore, 33% of the children's illustrations disclosed depressive features of help lessness, frustration. and anger. Over 20% of the adolescents depicted themselves as dead, dying, or about to be killed by their headache.