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2 - Epidemiology of Headache in the Emergency Department

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2017

Serena L. Orr
Affiliation:
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa
Benjamin W. Friedman
Affiliation:
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York
David W. Dodick
Affiliation:
Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, AZ
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Summary

Abstract

Headache is one of the most common chief complaints in the emergency department (ED). Several demographic and other factors are associated with the propensity to visit the ED with headache. Whereas primary headaches are the most common cause of headache in the adult ED, secondary, non-life-threatening causes, such as headaches associated with viral illnesses, underlie most headaches in the pediatric ED. Costs associated with ED headache visits are high, partly due to the rising use of neuroimaging in this patient population. Several strategies could help to mitigate the cost of headache care in the ED, primarily by aiming to improve community-based care for patients with primary headaches. In this chapter, a detailed overview of the epidemiology of headache in the ED is provided.

Type
Chapter
Information
Emergency Headache
Diagnosis and Management
, pp. 4 - 14
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2017

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