Clinical characterization of delayed alcohol-induced headache
A study of 1,108 participants
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Abstract
Objective To evaluate the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD) criteria and to characterize the clinical phenotype of delayed alcohol-induced headache (DAIH).
Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of university students who voluntarily consumed alcohol and experienced headache. Participants completed a survey that included demographic and clinical data. We analyzed the phenotype of the headache, validated ICHD phenotype criteria for DAIH, and analyzed whether participants fulfilled criteria for low-CSF-pressure headache or migraine.
Results A total of 1,108 participants were included (58% female, mean age 23 years, 41% with headache history). Mean alcohol intake was 158 g; spirits were consumed by 60% of the participants; beer was consumed by 41%; and wine was consumed by 18%. The ICHD criteria for DAIH were met in 95% of the participants. Headache duration (mean, 6.7 hours) correlated with total grams of alcohol consumed (r = 0.62, p = 0.03). Pain was bilateral in 85% of patients with predominantly frontal topography (43%). Pain quality was mainly pressing (60%) or pulsatile (39%) and was aggravated by physical activity in 83% of participants. ICHD low-CSF pressure-headache criteria were fulfilled in 58% of patients, and migraine criteria were fulfilled by 36%.
Conclusions DAIH is a moderate-intensity headache, is typically bilateral, and presents with frontal predominance and a pressing quality. The phenotype of DAIH combines features of both migraine and low-CSF-pressure headaches.
Glossary
- ABV=
- alcohol by volume;
- CI=
- confidence interval;
- DAIH=
- delayed alcohol-induced headache;
- ICHD-3=
- International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition;
- MS-Q=
- Migraine Screen Questionnaire;
- VAS=
- visual analog scale
Footnotes
Go to Neurology.org/N for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
CME Course: NPub.org/cmelist
- Received January 4, 2020.
- Accepted in final form May 8, 2020.
- © 2020 American Academy of Neurology
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Letters: Rapid online correspondence
- Author response: Clinical characterization of delayed alcohol-induced headache: A study of 1,108 participants
- David García-Azorín, Neurologist, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid
- Ángel L. Guerrero, Neurologist, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid
Submitted October 16, 2020 - Reader response: Clinical characterization of delayed alcohol-induced headache: A study of 1,108 participants
- Jonathan H. Smith, MD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN)
Submitted October 15, 2020 - Author response: Clinical characterization of delayed alcohol-induced headache: A study of 1,108 participants
- David García-Azorín, Neurologist, Hospital Clínico Universitario Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
- Ángel L. Guerrero, Neurologist, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid (Valladolid, Spain)
Submitted October 07, 2020 - Reader response: Clinical characterization of delayed alcohol-induced headache: A study of 1,108 participants
- Peter J. Goadsby, Neurologist, University of California, Los Angeles/King's College London
Submitted October 03, 2020 - Author response: Clinical characterization of delayed alcohol-induced headache: A study of 1,108 participants
- David García-Azorín, Neurologist, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid
- Henrik W. Schytz, Neurologist, Danish Headache Center
- Ángel L. Guerrero, Neurologist, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Valladolid
Submitted September 10, 2020 - Reader response: Clinical characterization of delayed alcohol-induced headache: A study of 1,108 participants
- Vinod K. Gupta, Physician-Medical Director, Migraine-Headache Institution, Gupta Medical Centre (New Delhi, India)
Submitted September 03, 2020
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