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Tension-type headache.

Comparison with migraine


without aura and cervicogenic headache.
The Vågå study of headache epidemiology

Ottar Sjaastad, MD, PhDa,b IASP description (5) – roughly seems to be: a tightening,
Leiv Sigmund Bakketeig, MDc bilateral, non-pulsating headache of mild-moderate in-
tensity accompanied by few, if any, general autonomic
a features. Most workers in the field now would probably
Department of Neurology, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim
University Hospitals (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway agree with this description. Nevertheless, T-TH does not
b Vågå Communal Health Centre, Vågåmo, Norway seem to have clear-cut boundaries. Symptomatological-
c Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Nydalen, Oslo, ly, it may infringe upon the borders of migraine without
Norway aura (MwoA). T-TH may even, as presented nowadays,
consist of more than one entity.
Corresponding author: Ottar Sjaastad The present work is an integral part of the Vågå study of
Gautes gate 12 - N-7030 Trondheim headache epidemiology. The prevalence of T-TH at
E-mail: eylert.brodtkorb@ntnu.no grass roots level is probably only incompletely known.
This may partly be due to the fact that cervicogenic
Invited paper headache (CEH) is not accepted/recognised in some
pertinent circles. The principal aim of this study was to
identify, to the best of our knowledge, genuine cases of
T-TH in this circumscribed, geographical area.
Summary
Since it has been claimed over and over again that
nuchal traits may be found frequently in both T-TH and
The aim of the present study was to describe the preva-
lence of tension-type headache (T-TH) in rural Norway, MwoA, and not only in CEH, a comparison of nuchal
and 1838 citizens aged 18-65 years were included. Fea- features in the three headaches is carried out. Typical
tures indicating neck involvement were also looked for. “migraine traits” have also been included in the compar-
T-TH was compared with migraine without aura and ison of the three headaches, to make it more complete.
with cervicogenic headache (CEH) considering both As regards symptomatology, genuineness has been
these features and typical migraine traits. preferred over numbers in cases of diagnostic conflict,
Face-to-face interviews were carried out, based on an and such conflicts inevitably arise. Data for the less gen-
elaborate questionnaire. The IHS criteria, first version, uine T-TH cases will, however, be presented separately,
were used for T-TH diagnosis. A T-TH prevalence of in order to give an idea of the total magnitude of T-TH in
34% was found. this area.
In T-TH and migraine without aura, typical CEH fea-
tures, such as reduced range of motion in the neck and
mechanical provocation of pain, were far less promi- Materials and methods
nent than in CEH. Typical migraine traits, e.g. photo-
phobia, were much less frequently present in T-TH and The field work of the Vågå study (6) was carried out dur-
CEH than in migraine without aura. T-TH is, in all prob-
ing the period 1995-1997. Vågå had 3907 citizens just
ability, not a CEH variant and vice versa.
prior to the start of the study. All accessible citizens in
KEY WORDS: cervicogenic headache, migraine without aura, neck the age range 18-65 years were invited to participate in
pain, persistent neck complaint with subsequent posterior headache, the study, and of these, 1838 (88.6%) could be included.
tension-type headache. The study protocol (7) involved face-to-face interviews,
based on an elaborate headache questionnaire (which
the examined individuals were not even allowed to see),
Introduction plus a meticulous physical/neurological examination of
the face, head, and neck, and a short-version neurolog-
The term “tension headache” originated somewhere ical examination of the rest of the body. If deemed nec-
along the way, but the present authors do not know exact- essary, a thorough neurological examination would be
ly where or when. That there have been uncertainty and carried out, and, in such cases, even supplementary
misgivings regarding this term, can for example be seen studies, like MRI and CT, might be added.
from commentaries on the 1962 Ad Hoc Committee crite- In the present study, intensity of pain was graded ac-
ria (1). Heyck (2), who at a later stage became a member cording to a recently published, sensitive 0-6+ scale (8).
of this committee (1969), felt that it was hard for a central On this scale, 3+ to 5+ correspond to the IHS levels
European to accept this term. Heyck was one of the “mild” to “severe”. The mean intensity in the Vågå series
cleverest headache clinicians – ever. Later, the term was was 2.81+.
changed to “tension-type headache” (T-TH) (3,4). “Features indicative of cervical abnormality”, which we will
The typical T-TH picture (3,4) – also extractable from the refer to as the cervical factor (CF) (9), were calculated for

Functional Neurology 2008; 23(2): 71-76 71


O. Sjaastad et al.

each participant. The CF is based on the presence of fea- Symptoms were characterised in various ways, nausea,
tures/findings in relation to following items: i) Range of for example, being present: “always; frequently; rarely;
motion in the neck (ROM), i.e. rotation (9); ii) Skin-roll test never”. The methodological problems concerning the “al-
in the shoulder area (10); iii-v) Precipitation of pain by ways/frequently/rarely/never” issue were considerable.
graded external pressure (3-4 kg): against the tendon in- The combination: “always”/”frequently” seems most suit-
sertions in the occipital area, against the splenius and up- able for representing the solitary clinical feature, like nau-
per trapezius area, and against the facet joints (9). sea. The “always”/“frequently” combination was com-
The CF as such and the skin-roll test were free vari- pared with its opposite, i.e., “rarely/never”. The results of
ables; the CF is graded from 0 to 5+. In headache-free the two modes of expression (i.e. pairs of alternatives)
individuals in Vågå (n=246), the mean CF was 0.42+, should, more or less, coincide. If so, only one figure is
whereas in the total study population it was 0.79+. given – the higher one.
Tension-type headache and MwoA (and other primary If, instead, the results differ more than just marginally –
headaches) were diagnosed according to the IHS, first which they not infrequently did – both figures are consid-
version (3), which was in current use at the time. ered, and a mean is used. It should be appreciated that
The correct categorisation of MwoA and T-TH is cum- if the three alternatives “always”/”frequently”/”rarely”
bersome. For prevalence estimation, cases with T-TH were combined, the ensuing level would be high, in all
coexisting with a clinically separable MwoA were natu- probability too high. If only “always” was used, the result
rally included. If there seemed to be one headache on- would be low, probably far too low. This method of rea-
ly, but with properties attributable to both T-TH and soning is, of course, no guarantee that the alternative
MwoA, this headache was considered non-classifiable “always”/”frequently” will show a “correct” value.
in the present context. Such cases are not included in Two deviations from the IHS criteria were made. First,
either of the rubrics T-TH or MwoA, but will be present- we did not feel comfortable with our own palpation tech-
ed as a separate group. When considering symptoma- nique for disorder of the pericranial musculature (3). No
tology, on the other hand, only “pure” T-TH cases were results are, therefore, reported concerning 2.1.1 and
included, i.e. those in which MwoA had been ruled out, 2.1.2 (3). Nor has a subclassification into chronic and
since it was realised that both examiner and participant episodic T-TH been carried out, because the temporal
might be unable to decipher adequately the symptoms pattern can change during life, even more than once. In
of T-TH in the presence of MwoA. CEH was diagnosed a not inconsiderable group, there was some uncertainty
according to the criteria of the CHISG, version I (11), regarding the temporal pattern.
which was the one in current use at the time. Anaesthet- Only lifetime prevalence data are given.
ic blockades were not part of the examination, and con- The diagnostic procedure was validated: A) Blinded re-
sequently not of the criteria used in this context. A quan- check of 100 records; B) Blinded re-check of 41 individ-
titative scale was also introduced, with 6.0+ (fulfilment of uals (7), carried out a mean of 14.8 months (range: 4-23
all criteria) as the highest grade. CHISG CEH criteria months) after examination I. The subjects in group A
(12) were also calculated in each T-TH case and MwoA were blinded for name, sex, age, occupation, family his-
case. tory, and diagnosis.
For attack frequency, a 10-point scale was applied, with This study was accepted by the regional ethics commit-
daily headache and one attack a year as the extremes. tee and the State Data Inspectorate, and all participants
Other anamnestic parameters collected included: age at gave their signed informed consent.
onset, total duration of T-TH, prevailing intensity, jabs/
stabbing pain [this was compared with migraine, in which
jabs (icepick-like pain, 13) have been supposed to occur Results
more frequently than in the population at large], location
of initial and maximal pain of attack, and nuchal symp- The pain in T-TH was relatively weak showing a mean of
toms and signs. “Migrainous” symptoms, like nausea, 3.1, corresponding to just above “mild” (Table I). The
vomiting, and pulsatile pain, were also investigated. number of pain days varied markedly. On average, > 3

Table I - General information on tension-type headache and headaches with which it can be confused (plus migraine with aura).

T-TH CEH MwoA M+A

Age at onset, years 25 33 18 20


Age at examination, years 42 50 40 43
Duration of headache, years ca 17 ca 17 ca 22 ca 23
Sex ratio, F/M* 1.31 0.71 01.69 1.70
Mean intensity (scale: 0-6+)** 3.1 3.8 4.2 ***4.0***
4
Jabs/stabs * (%) 38 42 38 45

Abbreviations and symbols: T-TH=tension-type headache; CEH=cervicogenic headache; MwoA=migraine without aura; M+A=migraine with aura.
* 1.06 in the entire Vågå series (7); ** For grading, see text; *** 4.5+, if cases without a pain phase (with aura only) were excluded; 4* In controls:
35% (7).

72 Functional Neurology 2008; 23(2): 71-76


Tension-type headache in Vågå

alternatives were ticked on the scale of frequency. A fre- observed in migraine (Table II). The response to “bend-
quency of between one attack per two months and one ing forwards” also seemed to follow these general lines
attack per week was ticked by 52%; and between one (Table II). Nausea seemed to be present >4 times more
attack per three months and two attacks per week was frequently in MwoA than in T-TH/CEH. Accentuation up-
ticked by 75%. on physical activity was most frequently found in MwoA,
but for this trait the difference vs the other headaches
seemed to be less marked. The presence of “local” au-
Prevalence
tonomic signs (Table II) was equally rare in the three
headaches.
In 478 cases, the T-TH criteria seemed to be fulfilled,
without any admixture of MwoA: i.e. in 26% of the total
Vågå series (“pure” cases). There were 271 females Cervicogenic traits
and 207 males in this group (57% females and 43%
males); F/M ratio: 1.31 (Table I). The average age at on- Typical “cervicogenic traits” are detailed in Table III
set was: 25 (range: 19-65) years. In 137 cases, a coex- (over). The pattern seemed to be that T-TH and MwoA
istence of genuine T-TH and MwoA was believed to be were generally comparable as regards these “traits”,
present. The total number of T-TH cases in Vågå, there- with only minor/moderate differences emerging between
fore, seemed to be 615; prevalence: 34% (females: 377; them. However, the trait of unilaterality clearly distin-
males: 238, or 61% versus 39%; F/M ratio: 1.58). Some guished T-TH from MwoA; it should be emphasised that
non-decipherable cases of a sort of amalgamation of unilaterality is a main criterion in MwoA, whereas bilat-
T-TH/MwoA were observed: 45 cases in the total Vågå erality is a criterion in T-TH. The second characteristic
series (or 2.5%). trend, evident from Table III, was that the values of these
traits were clearly higher in CEH than in T-TH/MwoA.
“Migrainous” traits For “posterior” onset of pain, the difference between the
CEH and T-TH values showed a factor of >3; for ipsilat-
Regardless of the mode used for presenting the fre- eral shoulder complaint, a factor of >5; and for radicular
quency of “migrainous” traits, e.g. photophobia, a palpa- arm pain, a factor of >10. For both T-TH and MwoA, the
ble difference seemed to exist between T-TH and levels of the cervicogenic features were similar to those
MwoA. “Migrainous” symptoms, like phonophobia and of controls in fields where control values could be ob-
pulsating pain were relatively rare in T-TH, but far from tained; e.g. ROM and CF (Table III). Pain provocation
absent (Table II). These symptoms seemed to be milder from the neck, subjectively as well as objectively, was a
than in migraine; the feeling of “explosion”/”disintegra- prominent feature in CEH but not in T-TH/MwoA. This
tion” in the head, when the pulsating quality of the pain difference between T-TH and CEH was actually a major
is at its peak, that is occasionally observed in MwoA, one. The mean number of CEH criteria fulfilled differed
was almost non-existent in T-TH/CEH. “Migrainous” vastly in T-TH/MwoA and CEH (Table III). One reason
symptoms generally seemed to be present to a similar why this number of criteria was relatively high in MwoA
extent in T-TH and CEH, while the values in both of (compared to T-TH) is that unilaterality is also a criterion
these headaches generally differed widely from those of MwoA, but not of T-TH. Without the laterality criterion,

Table II - “Migrainous” features and local autonomic features (% of cases) in the three headache forms.

Feature T-TH CEH MwoA

Nausea 9 8 (5*/10**) 39 (46*/32**)


Vomiting 6 (2*/9**) 5 13 (16*/10**)
Throbbing*** 22 20 (494*) 81
Accentuation upon physical activity 23 39 49
Phonophobia 22 28 (24*/31**) 79 (84*/74**)
Photophobia 15 19 (15*/22**) 68 (73*/62**)

Bending forwards:
Increase in pain 20 22 49
Increase in throbbing 8 7 32
Extra symptoms: until resting again 1.7 0 11

Duration of pain >72 hours – 61 Negative (obligatory)

“Local” autonomic features


Lacrimation 3 5 4
Conjunctival injection 2 0 4
Nasal secretion 1 0 2

Abbreviations and symbols: T-TH=tension-type headache; CEH=cervicogenic headache; MwoA=migraine without aura; M+A=migraine with au-
ra; * Based on: “Always/frequent”, see text; ** Based on: The opposite of “never”/”rarely”, see text; *** “Explosions” in the head at pain maxi-
mum, synchronised with the pulse, were noted more often in MwoA (8%) than in T-TH (1.3%) and CEH (2%); 4* 20%,throbbing rather regular-
ly. “Rarely”/”mild”, “not in recent years” etc. in 49% of the cases.

Functional Neurology 2008; 23(2): 71-76 73


O. Sjaastad et al.

Table III - “Cervicogenic traits” in the three headache forms.

Variable T-TH MwoA CEH

Skin-roll test (mm)* 15.3 15.4 19.8

Rotation, neck: a) ≥ 15°, reduction (%)** 17 16 93


a) ≥ 10°, reduction (%) 32 31 98
b) deficit in °, mean*** 5.4 5.1 21.7

CF: (0-5+)4* 0.72 0.93 2.37

Shoulder discomfort, ss (%) 17 19 100


Arm discomfort, diffuse, ss (%) 7 8 7*)1005*
Arm pain, radicular, ss (%) 2.5 1.2 27

Pain onset, posteriorly (%) 30 22 97


Unilaterality (%) 8 52 100

Pain provocation from neck:


Subjectively (%) 4 4 100
Objectively (%)6* ca 1 ca 1 100

CEH criteria, mean no. (0-6+) 0.7 1.2 7*)6.07*

Feeling of “tension”, neck (%) 63 62 93

Feeling of “stiffness”, neck (%) 62 62 93

Abbreviations and symbols: T-TH=tension-type headache; CEH=cervicogenic headache; MwoA=migraine without aura; M+A=migraine with au-
ra; ss=symptomatic side; * Mean, Vågå material: 15.0±5.9 (10); ** Vågå material, headache-free individuals (n=246): 22%; *** Mean, Vågå ma-
terial (n=1838): 6.2°; 4* Mean Vågå material: 0.79+; 5* Among those with adequate information; 6* Tendon insertions, nuchal area; 7* 5.93, if
three slightly doubtful cases are taken into account.

the total sum of CEH criteria fulfilled would have been another individual, the symptoms had abated to the ex-
more similar in T-TH and MwoA. tent that this patient, at most, seemed to present only a
Stabs (jabs) occurred frequently in all these forms of borderline headache (C). In the sixth individual, the
headache; jabs do not seem to be useful in distinguish- trend observed was the reverse, T-TH probably not ac-
ing between them (Table I). Pain intensity was lowest in tually having been present at examination I (E). A simi-
T-TH (Table I). Both migraine with aura and MwoA were lar/“identical” headache thus seemed to be present, at
seemingly more severe than CEH. Feelings of “tension” follow up, in three cases, or 50% of those considered.
and stiffness in the neck (not CEH criteria) were of sim- The Kappa value was nevertheless rather high: 0.626
ilar magnitude in T-TH and MwoA (Table III). These lev- (p<0.01), because the finding of T-TH-“free” individuals
els were somewhat lower in the individuals with “no is reflected in the statistics.
headache” in Vågå (i.e. 46%) than in the subjects with The discrepancy between the two examinations could
T-TH and MwoA. be due to a real evolution of the complaints, given the
relatively long observation time; alternatively, the indi-
viduals may have explained their complaints in different
Validation

Re-check of records (n=100). Among the 100 files re- Table IV - Validation. Comparison of first and second exam-
checked, 33 concerned T-TH cases. In 20 of these cas- ination in six possible tension-type headache patients (out
es, T-TH was the only headache present, while in the of a total of 41 individuals re-assessed).
other 13 cases, it coexisted with other headaches: mi-
graine with and without aura (n=11); CEH (n=1); neural- Pattern Type of constellation on Number
giform headache (n=1). There seemed to be complete examination I / examination II
concurrence between the results at the two examina-
tions in 29 cases (88% of the cases) and complete or A +/+ 1
partial disagreement in the other four, the latter being B +?/+? 2
deemed failures. Kappa statistics showed a value of:
C +/+? 1
0.9065 (p<0.0001).
D +/+ MwoA(?) 1
Re-check of individuals (n=41). Of the 41 individuals re- E 0/+ 1
examined, T-TH was a diagnostic possibility in six. Five
had shown T-TH or T-TH(?) on examination I, of whom Total 6
three showed a more or less identical headache at ex-
Abbreviations and symbols: +=suggestive of tension-type headache;
amination II (A&B, Table IV). In one individual, the symp- 0=not suggestive of tension-type headache; MwoA=migraine without
toms had increased and MwoA was suspected (D). In aura.

74 Functional Neurology 2008; 23(2): 71-76


Tension-type headache in Vågå

ways on the two occasions, or the investigator may have CEH + “persistent neck complaints…” (19, 20) been
interpreted the narrative differently on the two occa- added, i.e. 10-11%, this would have taken the total to
sions. around 85%. Therefore, the sum may be strikingly simi-
While a Kappa value of 0.626 is comforting, this result lar, but the subgrouping differs.
can be viewed from another angle: for a clinician, 50%
diagnostic accuracy is far from ideal.
Distinction from MwoA and CEH

Discussion Unilaterality is not included among the T-TH criteria,


whereas it is a characteristic trait of both MwoA and
CEH. Nevertheless, indirectly, unilaterality may emerge
Prevalence as a factor in clinical T-TH series. Situations may arise
in which the bilaterality criterion becomes superfluous,
Tension-type headache is probably the least distinct and because a satisfactory number of the remaining criteria
most poorly defined of the major, recurrent headaches. has already been fulfilled in a given case.
T-TH is partly characterised by negative criteria. It has Unilaterality (15,21,22) has, probably indirectly, become
also been described as a wastebasket type of diagnosis. a feature of T-TH in a not inconsiderable percentage of
Nevertheless, it has the reputation of being the most the cases examined in various studies. In Monteiro’s
prevalent recurrent headache, with a prevalence rang- work, unilateral pain was present in 18.7% of the T-TH
ing from 30 to 78% in various investigations, according cases (15), while the figure for unilaterality in T-TH in
to the IHS (4); in other words, a rather alarming differ- Rasmussen’s work was 10% (16).
ence of >250%. The prevalence of T-TH is highly de- Throbbing has been observed “usually” in ca 60% of
pendent upon the correctness of the borders separating T-TH patients (21), a value higher than that found in mi-
it from MwoA and CEH. It sounds like a sigh when graine patients (ca 51%) observed by the same group
Lance, in a somewhat different context (14), wrote: “...no (23). After all, throbbing is an inherent trait of MwoA, not
trouble in agreeing on the diagnosis of cluster headache of T-TH. Also in the present series, a certain percentage
and migraine with aura but found difficulty in finding a di- had throbbing; this may, in our cases, be due to a minor
viding line between migraine and tension-type “pollution”, possibly from MwoA. The T-TH criteria, nev-
headache”. This was written in 1993, after the advent of ertheless, were fulfilled in our cases.
the IHS criteria (3). For this reason, these cases were categorised as T-TH
In the present study, the prevalence of T-TH was 26% if cases and not as “non-classifiable” ones, a group that in
only the “pure” cases were calculated, and 34% if cases Vågå contained 136 individuals, or 7.4%. Coarse struc-
mixed with MwoA were included. These are much lower tural changes, observed for example on MRI, have not
figures than those presented in studies from recent been verified in CEH (24).
years that have used similar techniques, i.e. face-to- Remarkably, in the present study, there were major dif-
face interviews: 67% (15) and 69% (lifetime prevalence) ferences between T-TH/MwoA, on the one hand, and
(16, 17). Even if we were to add the cases that were a CEH on the other hand, with regard to cardinal CEH
sort of an amalgamation of MwoA and T-TH, the total in variables. Such variables include: ipsilateral shoulder
the present study (ca 37%) would still not reach such and diffuse/radicular arm pain; range of motion in the
high values. neck, and onset of pain in the neck/posterior part of the
One particular factor may have influenced the numerical head. Incidentally, this pattern corresponded well to the
T-TH/MwoA balance in the geographical area explored: pain drawings done by CEH patients in another context
this is, so to speak, a virgin area as regards the pharma- (25). Even larger differences were found in relation to
cological approach to these headaches; in particular, the mechanical precipitation of attacks.
regular drug consumption is rare. Typical early-phase The relative lack of “migrainous traits” is pretty similar in
migraine traits may have been effaced by drug therapy T-TH and CEH (Table II). Moreover, the age at onset
in areas with high drug consumption, the ultimate was clearly different in T-TH/MwoA compared to CEH,
headache pattern bearing more resemblance to T-TH. In the difference being most marked as regards MwoA
Vågå, MwoA may have kept the original migraine char- (Table I). Although the latter feature cannot be used di-
acteristics to a higher extent, the prevalence in Vågå be- agnostically in the solitary case, this feature too may in-
ing: MwoA: 31%; migraine with aura: 9.7% (18). No firm dicate differences in pathogenesis.
conclusions can be reached with regard to the total im-
pact of the reduced consumption of analgesics in Vågå.
Two other factors have contributed to a numerical reduc- Validation
tion of T-TH in our series: both CEH (4.1%) (19) and
“persistent neck complaint with subsequent, transient, The tendency reported in our previous communications
posterior headache” (6.6%) (20) have been presented from the Vågå study seemed to be present in this study,
under such headings as integral parts of the Vågå study too: a constellation of symptoms and signs set forth in a
and have, at least partly, been excluded from the T-TH written format, stemming from a solitary individual, can
domain – this applies particularly to the latter group. If more easily lead to repeated, similar interpretation than
we had added these groups, the prevalence could have a repeated questioning of that individual. An appreciable
been around 45%. The sum of T-TH and migraine with interval between two questionings may enhance this
and without aura prevalence may be of interest. In two tendency. A more than minor change in headache de-
previous, comparable studies, it was 83% (15) and 84% gree may lead to a change of headache category; thus,
(16), respectively. In Vågå, it was around 75%. Had in the present validation: from zero headache to mild

Functional Neurology 2008; 23(2): 71-76 75


O. Sjaastad et al.

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