Estudo da prevalência de cefaleias primárias nos estudantes de medicina do quinto ao décimo segundo período da Universidade Federal de Sergipe

Abstract

Headache is among the most disabling clinical conditions. Reduction of vitality, sleep disturbance, impairment of work activity are some of the examples that, depending on frequency and intensity, may interfere with the activities of daily living. Health professionals have been singled out as a population most vulnerable to the presence of recurring headaches. For medical students, there are few studies evaluating the prevalence of headache. Stress, sleep deprivation, overload of reading hours are factors that can act as triggers for recurrent headaches among medical students attending the university hospital. Objective: to evaluate the prevalence of recurrent headache in medical students attending the University Hospital in the state of Sergipe - Campus São Cristóvão. Methodology: A total of 201 medical students were selected between the 5th and 12th period, with a questionnaire based on the International Classification of Headache - 3rd beta version. It is an observational, transversal and descriptive study with a qualitative approach. Results: The sample consisted of 110 men (55%) and 91 women (45%). Recurrent headache was observed in 80 students (39.8%), of these 58.8% were women. Regarding the type of headache, 51.7% were migraine and 46% were tensional. In women, 54.9% was migraine and 41.17% was tensional type. Conclusion: We observed a higher prevalence of primary recurrent headaches in this particular population, with the female gender being the most affected. Migraine was the most prevalent type, especially among women, while tension headache was more prevalent among males.