Asian Journal of Research and Reports in Neurology

Mean Difference of Body Mass Index (BMI) between Primary Headache Groups in Cempaka Putih Public Health Centre

Annisa Mardhiyah

Cempaka Putih Public Health Centre, Central Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Yohanes Firmansyah *

Faculty of Medicine, Tarumanagara University, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Murni L. Naibaho

Cempaka Putih Public Health Centre, Central Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia.

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

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Abstract

Headache is the main cause of patient visits to neurologists with a global prevalence of 66% (65% in men and 69% in women). Based on the International classification of headache disorders (ICHD), primary headaches are classified into migraines, tension-type headaches (TTH), trigeminal autonomic cephalgias (TAC), and other primary headaches. Excess body mass index (BMI) and obesity are health problems that are known to be associated with primary headaches. Various studies that have been done before have shown a relationship between excess BMI and obesity with primary headaches.

This study was conducted to look at differences in the mean BMI between groups of primary headache types at the Cempaka Putih District Health Centre. This research is an analytic descriptive study with a cross-sectional design. The data were collected from   medical records from July to December 2022. The data collected was then analyzed descriptively and analytically.

The results of the Kruskall-Wallis statistical test showed that there was a significant difference in the mean BMI between the three primary headache groups (p-value: 0.022). Further statistical analysis showed that the most significant difference in BMI was found between the migraine and TAC groups (p-value: 0.008) and TTH and TAC (p-value: 0.006).

This study's results indicate a relationship between BMI and the type of primary headache. Further research needs to be conducted to look at other factors besides BMI that may be related to the incidence of primary headaches.

Keywords: Primary cephalgia, body mass index (BMI), migraine, tension-type headache (TTH), trigeminal autonomic cephalgias (TAC)

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