TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence and socio-demographic characteristics of persons who have never had a headache among healthy voluntary blood donors - a population-based study
AU - Olofsson, Isa Amalie
AU - Kogelman, Lisette
AU - Rasmussen, Andreas
AU - Erikstrup, Christian
AU - Sørensen, Erik
AU - Paarup, Helene M
AU - Hjalmgrim, Henrik
AU - Banasik, Karina
AU - Nielsen, Kaspar René
AU - Burgdorf, Kristoffer Soelvsten
AU - Pedersen, Ole Birger Vesterager
AU - Ullum, Henrik
AU - Olesen, Jes
AU - Hansen, Thomas Folkmann
PY - 2020/9
Y1 - 2020/9
N2 - INTRODUCTION: Headache is an extremely prevalent disorder with a lifetime prevalence of 90-99%. However, a small fraction of people never experiences a headache. Research on people without headache could uncover protective factors in headache, but to our knowledge no study on headache-free individuals has been published. We aim to estimate the prevalence of headache-free individuals among Danish blood donors, and to describe the socio-demographics and health factors of headache-free participants.MATERIALS AND METHODS: In all, 38,557 healthy volunteers were recruited as part of the Danish Blood Donor Study. Headache-free participants were identified based on the question "Have you ever experienced a headache of any kind?". Utilising the Danish registries and self-reported questionnaires, we analysed socio-demographic and lifestyle factors using logistic regression adjusted for age and sex.RESULTS: The prevalence of headache-free individuals was 4.1% (n = 1362) with a female-male ratio of 1:2.2. To be headache free was significantly associated with an employment status as a student, a low level of income and a regular alcohol consumption.DISCUSSION: The prevalence of headache-free individuals was comparable to population-wide studies of headache. To be headache free was not associated with a high socio-economic status. Further studies on people without headache will hopefully reveal protective factors in headache, and this novel approach might be useful in other very prevalent disorders.
AB - INTRODUCTION: Headache is an extremely prevalent disorder with a lifetime prevalence of 90-99%. However, a small fraction of people never experiences a headache. Research on people without headache could uncover protective factors in headache, but to our knowledge no study on headache-free individuals has been published. We aim to estimate the prevalence of headache-free individuals among Danish blood donors, and to describe the socio-demographics and health factors of headache-free participants.MATERIALS AND METHODS: In all, 38,557 healthy volunteers were recruited as part of the Danish Blood Donor Study. Headache-free participants were identified based on the question "Have you ever experienced a headache of any kind?". Utilising the Danish registries and self-reported questionnaires, we analysed socio-demographic and lifestyle factors using logistic regression adjusted for age and sex.RESULTS: The prevalence of headache-free individuals was 4.1% (n = 1362) with a female-male ratio of 1:2.2. To be headache free was significantly associated with an employment status as a student, a low level of income and a regular alcohol consumption.DISCUSSION: The prevalence of headache-free individuals was comparable to population-wide studies of headache. To be headache free was not associated with a high socio-economic status. Further studies on people without headache will hopefully reveal protective factors in headache, and this novel approach might be useful in other very prevalent disorders.
KW - Headache
KW - blood donors
KW - life style
KW - prevalence
KW - protective factors
KW - registries
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85083661773&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0333102420920653
DO - 10.1177/0333102420920653
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 32312100
SN - 0333-1024
VL - 40
SP - 1055
EP - 1062
JO - Cephalalgia
JF - Cephalalgia
IS - 10
M1 - 333102420920653
ER -