Back to List

Title:

Author:
Date:
Source:

Biopsychosocial Correlates of Headache:
What Predicts Pediatric Headache Occurrence?
Kroner-Herwig B, Morris L, Heinrich M.
Posted: June 2008  
Headache   2008;48:529-544

Objective:   The study aims at identifying biopsychosocial risk factors for headache in children and adolescents aged 9 to 14.

Methods:   A survey was conducted in a randomly drawn population sample of families with children in the above age group. The objective of the study was to establish a profile of risk factors regarding the occurrence of headache. Headache was ranked according to its frequency in the last 6 months. Independent variables came from 6 domains: health, socioeconomic, family, school, leisure/peers, and psychological factors.

Results:   Age and sex explained a small but significant proportion of the variance in headache frequency. All health variables, several socioeconomic, and most family-and school-related as well as the psychological variables demonstrated a significant association with the criterion in the single variable models. However, only a few of the variables related to leisure/peer activities reached significance.

Conclusions:   The comprehensive model was able to explain one third of the total variance in headache occurrence. Contrary to our hypotheses, the addition of psychosocial variables to health-related predictors did not markedly improve model fit.