• João Eliezer Ferri-de-Barros, Mauricio José de Alencar, Luis Felipe Berchielli, and Luis Carlos Castelhano Junior.
• Department of Medicine and Psychology, Taubaté University, SP, Brazil.
• Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2011 Jun 1;69(3):502-8.

UnlabelledHeadaches occur frequently and thus are a key component of sociocentric medical education.ObjectiveTo study headaches among students of medicine and psychology in a single university.MethodThis was a questionnaire-based survey of a cohort of students of medicine and psychology.ResultsThe overall lifetime prevalence of headache was 98% and over the last year, 91%. Tensional headache accounted for 59% and migraine 22% in medicine; and 48.5% and 32% respectively in psychology. Forty-five percent reported that headaches had a variable sporadic impact on their productivity. The self-medication rate was 77%. Thirty-six percent reported worsening since admission to the university.ConclusionThe prevalence of headaches was very high. Tension-type headaches predominated in males and migraine in females. Tension-type was more frequent among medical students than among psychology students; migraine was more frequent in psychology (more females) than in medicine. Both kinds of students reported that headaches caused low interference with daily activities. The students reported that their symptoms had worsened since admission to the university.

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