HEADACHE CHARACTERISTICS AMONG HIGH-SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY-STUDENTS

An extensive questionnaire which addressed general health, headache characteristics, antecedents to headaches, and coping strategies after one gets a headache was administered to 837 high school and university students in south Texas. Hypotheses were confirmed that (a) university students reported greater headache severity than did high school students, and (b) females reported higher frequencies of headaches and greater headache severity than did males. Our sample from south Texas reported a much lower incidence of headache than recent reports of students from other universities. Factor analysis of headache characteristics questions supported traditional headache classification. Factor analysis identified commonalities among headache antecedents and headache coping strategies. Relationships were identified between headache severity, headache antecedents and coping strategies that were consistent with previous studies.