Analgesic Usage in Patients with Episodic and Chronic Type Primary Headache

Abstract

Background: A large population of headache sufferers is never diagnosed or regularly treated. The majority of patients consulting the physician with headache had already been self-medicated, often for long periods of time, with over-thecounter drugs.Objective: To determine source and the course of analgesics that are being used and to evaluate analgesic intake bahaviour between "episodic" and "chronic" primary headache patients. Methods: Data was collected via a standard questionnaire from 286 patientswith migraine and tension-type headaches in the form of "episodic" and chronic" type.Findings: Source of analgesics and course of their use do not differ between "episodic" and "chronic" headache groups. The rate of the patients who try to use as few analgesics as possible is less in the chronic group (p<0.05). Greater percentage of patients with chronic headaches use analgesics with the anticipation of pain, and less percentage of these patients wait until the pain gets severe for analgesic intake (p<0.05). Conclusion: Chronic headache patients are inclined to use analgesics more quickly and they do not try to restrict their analgesic intake when compared to the patients with "episodic" headaches.