Epidemiology of Primary Headache and Its Associated Psychosocial Factors Amongst Undergraduate Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study From the Vidarbha Region

Introduction The present study was carried out to investigate the epidemiology of primary headaches amongst undergraduate medical students by determining the prevalence of primary headaches and their associated psychosocial factors. Methods A cross‑sectional study was conducted at a medical college in the Vidarbha region of India from January 2023 to February 2023 amongst 471 medical students. Diagnosis of tension-type headache (TTH) was made according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3) criteria. Data were collected by interview technique using a pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire. that consisted of socio-demographic variables and psychosocial factors. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 24.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results Prevalence of headache was 80% and was higher in females (87%) than in males (71%). TTH is the most common type with a prevalence of 76% in females followed by 64% in males. Psychosocial factors associated with presence of headache in study subjects were disappointment in relation to academic performance (OR 3.85, CI 1.68-2.71), poor socio-economic status (OR 2.69, CI 1.58-4.57), work overload (OR 0.41, CI 0.24-0.68), irritability (OR 0.33, CI 0.19-0.57) and frequent conflicts (OR 1.45, CI 0.78-2.70). Stress (OR 0.27, CI 0.11-0.71) and anxiety (OR 3.45, CI 1.31-9.08) were associated with headaches only in females and depression (OR 0.50, CI 0.25-1.01) was found to be associated with headaches only in males. Conclusions Psychosocial factors from the personal sphere like stress, overwork, and anxiety were highly prevalent amongst students and these factors need to be addressed meticulously in order to mitigate the problem of primary headache disorders amongst medical undergraduates.