New daily persistent headache triggered by stress, linked to stigma, disability
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Key takeaways:
- The majority of daily persistent headache onset occurs between the ages of 21 to 25 years or 36 to 40 years.
- More than 80% of survey respondents noted severe disability because of the condition.
SAN DIEGO —– New daily persistent headache presents itself relatively early in life, is commonly triggered by stress and leads to stigma and disability, according to a speaker at the American Headache Society Annual Scientific Meeting.
“[New daily persistent headache] is a headache with a very clearly defined onset that becomes constant within 24 hours and lasts for 3 months or longer,” Mark Burish, MD, PhD, associate professor in the department of neurosurgery and director, Will Erwin Headache Research Center at UT Health Houston, told attendees. “There’s not much in the literature in the way of surveys.”
Burish and colleagues initiated a search for individuals with new daily persistent headache (NDPH). From 803 individuals who responded to their survey, 525 completed the survey sufficiently and after further review, 337 (median age 41.2±15.4 years; 72% female; 70.7% from the United States) fit the analysis criteria and 34 participants were interviewed about their survey answers. Of those 34, 32 were found to have with NDPH, with one respondent had headache of possible cervicogenic origin and another had symptoms that commenced following a stroke.
According to results, the age groups that logged the most significant onset, regardless of sex, were 21 to 25 years and 36 to 40 years. For women, the most prevalent age groups for NDPH onset were 36 to 40 years, 21 to 25 years and 26 to 30 years; for men, 51 to 55 years and 21 to 25 years.
Data further showed that the most common and effective preventive treatments were calcitonin gene-related peptide antagonists, while the most common effective acute treatments were opioids.
The survey additionally revealed significant anxiety, depression and sleep disturbance along with evidence of stigma for the condition.
“The most common triggers were psychological stress or inflammation,” Burish said. “Most patients had severe disability.”