Abstract
Background: Almost half of the adult population in the world complains of one or more types of headache (HA) at least for one time for a lifetime. Within the headache field, much of the work relating to HRQoL has focused mainly on migraine as it is one of the most frequent primary headache diagnoses.
Objectives: To compare the quality of life among patients with primary headache disorders and general population.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted over 863 individuals in Makkah Region. Data were collected via a self-administered quality of life SF-36 questionnaire. The data gathered was fed into the computer and analyzed using SPSS software.
Results: A total of 863 subjects were included in this study. The mean age of participants was 29 +/- 10, both male and female were included with a 30.5% and 69.5%. 503 out of 863 participants suffered from headache, where it was classified into four types with the highest prevalence for tension type with about 53%, and lowest for a migraine with an aura with about 10%. We have found significant difference in quality of life between participants suffering from headache and the general population in health style, physical and emotional problems, bodily pain, social functioning and general health except for climbing of stairs which was insignificant.
Conclusion: We have found participants who suffered from primary headache disorders have a worse health-related quality of life compared with the general population.