Background: Epidemiological data on the prevalence of headache in nursing staff in Mainland China are lacking.\nWe therefore performed a study to assess the prevalence of headache, and factors associated with headaches, in\nnursing staff in three hospitals in North China.\nMethods: Stratified random cluster sampling was used to select 1102 nurses from various departments in three\nhospitals. A structured questionnaire was used to collect epidemiological data, headache characteristics and\nassociated factors.\nResults: The response rate was 93.0%. Among nursing staff, the 1-year prevalence of primary headache disorders\nwas 45.3%, of migraine 14.8% (migraine with aura 3.4%, migraine without aura 11.4%), of tension-type headache\n(TTH) 26.2%, of chronic daily headache (CDH) 2.7%. Multivariate analysis showed that seniority (�5 years) was a risk\nfactor for migraine (OR 2.280), obesity (BMI � 25) was a risk factor for TTH and CDH (OR 1.684 and 3.184), and age\n(�40 years) was a risk factor for CDH (OR 8.455). Nurses working in internal medicine were more likely to suffer CDH\nthan those in other departments. Working a greater number of night shifts was also associated with increased\nprevalence of headache.\nConclusion: The prevalence of primary headache disorders in nurses is higher than that in the general population\nin China, and occupational factors may play an important role. Therefore, the prevalence of headache in nurses\nshould be a focus of attention, and coping strategies should be provided. Such measures could contribute to\nimproving patient care.
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