DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2017.v05i05.022

Pages: 1826-1828

Hypothyroidism is a common endocrine disorder resulting from deficiency of thyroid hormone. Headache is among the most common reasons that patients seek medical attention. Hypothyroidism may be an exacerbating factor for some primary headaches. Furthermore, hypothyroidism may be a risk factor for incident new daily persistent headache. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of hypothyroidism in adults with headache. In this cross-sectional analytical study, the thyroid function tests of all patients having headache, who were referred to the General Medicine OPD of a tertiary care centre from January 2015 to December 2016 in Indore, India, were measured. The study population included 1455 patients with headache. Among them, 450 patients had migraine without aura, 401 patients had tension-type headache, 350 patients had migraine with aura, 98 patients had cluster headache, and 156 patients diagnosed with other primary headaches. Among 1455 patients, 13 patients (0.89%) were found to have overt hypothyroidism and 30 patients (2.06%) had subclinical hypothyroidism. Therefore, the prevalence of hypothyroidism was 2.95% in headache cases. We found a high prevalence of hypothyroidism in headache patients, significantly higher than in the general population. Because hypothyroidism is a treatable cause of secondary headaches, clinician should be aware of this relationship.