The effect of obesity status on the frequency and severity of headaches in patients diagnosed with primary headache in adolescence

INTRODUCTİON AND AİM: Our study aimed to examine the prevalence of obesity in adolescents diagnosed with primary headache, to compare the clinical differences between patients with and without obesity, and to compare the incidence of obesity in different primary headache subtypes. MATERİALS AND METHODS: Patients aged 10-18 years who applied to BAİBÜ Faculty of Medicine, Child Health and Diseases, Child Neurology Polyclinic between March 2020 and April 2022 and were diagnosed with primary headache were retrospectively scanned. A total of 273 adolescents, 93 (34.1%) males and 180 (65.9%) females, were included in the study. Children with a body mass index (BMI) > 95 percentile formed the obese group, children with a BMI between 85-95 constituted the overweight group, and children with a BMI between 5- 85 percentile formed the control group. In addition, patients in the same age group who were obese and did not have a primary headache diagnosis who applied to the Pediatric Endocrinology Polyclinic between March 2020 and April 2022 were included in the study. Since primary headache and obesity-related changes differ between the prepubertal and pubertal periods, it was decided to conduct the study only in the pubertal group (10-18 years old). RESULTS: When the prevalence of obesity in adolescents diagnosed with primary headache was examined, it was seen that 138 (65.4%) patients were of normal weight, 24 (11.4%) were overweight and 49 (23.2%) were obese. When the primary headache subtypes were evaluated xiii individually, the prevalence of obesity in the tension-type headache group (27.4%) was higher than in the migraine-type headache (20.8%) (p > .05). In order to evaluate the effects of obesity on headache clinic, the patients' headache frequency and headache severity were compared. The results obtained showed that there was no significant difference between the groups in headache severity (p > 0.05); however, it showed a significant difference between groups in terms of headache frequency (p < 0.01). The average headache frequency of obese patients was found to be significantly higher than that of normal weight patients. (p < .001). When laboratory data were examined, HDL, LDL and T.COL values were found to be significantly higher in the group with primary headache and obesity (respectively; t(80)=2.460, p < .05, ; t(80) = 2.223, p < .05, ; t(81) = 2.342, p < .05 ). Although no significant difference was detected between the groups in B12 and vitamin D values, the mean ranks of B12 and vitamin D levels in the obese group were lower than those in the normal weight and overweight groups. CONCLUSİON: The findings of our study showed that obesity increased the frequency of headaches in children diagnosed with primary headaches, but had no effect on headache severity. Due to the negative effect of obesity on headaches, patients diagnosed with primary headache who are obese or overweight should be informed about the importance of healthy nutrition and losing weight. In these children, it may also be useful to check blood lipid levels, as well as serum B12 and vitamin D levels, and take necessary precautions if disorders are detected. KEY WORDS: Obesity, primary headaches, adolescent age group, body mass index.