Causes of headache in patients referring to Bandar Abbas pediatric hospital

Introduction: Headache is a common problem in children and adolescents. It
may be a primary disorder, such as migraine, tension or cluster headaches or a
disorder secondary to a systemic illness or a central nervous system disorder.
This study is designed to reveal the main causes of headache in children who
were admitted to children’s neurology clinic of Bandar Abbas.
Methods: In this study the clinical and laboratory findings of 104 patients, who
were followed up after a diagnosis of headache in the hospital, were reviewed
retrospectively. The criteria as defined by the types of headaches according to
temporal patterns, and International Headache Society (IHS) were used in the
classification of patients. The results were presented using descriptive methods.
Results: 104 patients including 49 males and 55 females were investigated. The
patients ages ranged from 5 to 16 years (mean age 9.72 years); migraine
(36.53%), sinusitis (26.92%), tension-type and psychosomatic headaches
(16.34%) were the most frequently identified causes of acute headache. Other
causes included pharyngitis (4.8%), mumps (3.84%), aura (3.84%), meningitis
(2.88%), pyelonephritis (1.92%), viral upper respiratory tract infection (1.92%),
psudotumor cerebri (0.96%)
Conclusion: The most frequent cause of headache in children was migraine and
fortunately, the critical causes of headache which lead to death or complications
are in frequent.