Headache in childhood

Headache in childhood requires special attention, since children suffering from headache miss classes at school for an average of 7.8 days, and the rest of the children – just 3.7 days per school year. Frequent absence from school is a significant stress factor affecting academic performance, communication with peers and self-esteem. Often, these factors themselves worsen the course of headaches.

Despite the fact that children and adolescents rarely point to stress at school as the cause of headaches, their occurrence is typical during school days, especially on Monday-Wednesday from 6 to 18 h. Since school stress significantly affects the development of migraine in children Often, peers, teachers and parents mistakenly regard it as an excuse for absenteeism in school, although in reality it is a physiological reaction to stressful factors associated with studying.

More than half of the world’s children and adults suffer from headaches; they are one of the most frequent complaints in primary care.
Most non-traumatic etiology headaches that patients seek help for are migraines. Chronic headaches significantly disrupt work, social activity and relationships in the family.

Moreover, in patients with migraine, compared with people who do not suffer from headaches, comorbid somatic and psychological diseases are detected 3 times more often. The prevalence and significant negative impact of chronic headaches necessitate their effective detection and treatment in clinical practice.