HEADACHE IN CHAGASIC WOMEN

• Published in: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo Vol. 41; no. 2; pp. 119 - 122
• Main Authors: dos Santos, V M, da Cunha, S F, Teixeira, V de P, Monteiro, J P, dos Santos, J A, dos Santos, T A, dos Santos, L A, da Cunha, D F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Brazil Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo 01.03.1999; Instituto de Medicina Tropical
• Subjects: Adult; Brazil - epidemiology; Chagas Disease - complications; Confidence Intervals; Female; Headache - epidemiology; Headache - etiology; Humans; Middle Aged; Odds Ratio; Prevalence; Retrospective Studies; TROPICAL MEDICINE; Brazil; Headache; Parasympathetic denervation; Chagas' disease
• ISSN: 0036-4665; 1678-9946; 1678-9946; 0036-4665
• DOI: 10.1590/S0036-46651999000200010

The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of headache between Chagasic and Non-chagasic women. The cross-sectional study comprised 647 female > or = 40 years old, Chagasic (n = 362) and Controls (n = 285) at a Brazilian University Hospital. Chagasic were classified as Cardiac (n = 179), Megas (n = 58) or Indeterminate (n = 125) clinical forms. Headache was ascertained according to Headache International Society diagnostic criteria. The age (57.0 +/- 11.3 versus 57.3 +/- 10.4 years), and the percentage of white women (75.8% versus 77.1%) were similar between Chagasic and Controls, respectively. Headache was more prevalent among Chagasic (32.9%) than Controls (16.1%), mainly in Cardiac form (odds ratio, 2.41; 95% confidence interval, 1.38-4.23), phenomenon possibly related to parasympathetic denervation and cerebral vessels changes.