DESCRIPTIVE FEATURES AND CAUSAL ATTRIBUTIONS OF HEADACHE IN AN AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY

The reported characteristics and causes of headache differ across indi viduals and between groups. Such differences are of interest from an e pidemiological point of view. This study set out to identify the main descriptive features and causal attributions of headache within an Aus tralian urban community. A sample of 261 subjects reporting headache v olunteered to participate in the survey. Subjects completed a self-rep ort questionnaire for assessing demographic variables, headache parame ters (intensity, duration, etc), headache medication habits, and perce ived causes of one's headache (as in the UK headache survey by Blau, 1 990). Results revealed that the typical headache sufferer was a middle -aged employed individual. Migraine versus tension headache were equiv alent in number, and on the average, subjects experienced moderate int ensity, day-long headaches that recurred about nine times par month. W ith regard to causal attributions, the prevalence of headaches due to mental stress was higher than that due to any other single stimulus (e g, noise, exercise), and alcohol was the most frequent dietary cause o f headache. These findings are generally consistent with those from pr evious surveys, although some interesting departures emerge which may be accounted for by demographic differences in the populations studied .