Prevalence of headach and its effects in medical students in a public university

Headache is a symptom of high prevalence, with important impact on the activities of daily living. Medical student is a vulnerable population to headache due to an exhausting workload, as well as favorable habits like sleep deprivation, irregular eating, physical inactivity and stress. The objective was to evaluate the prevalence of headache and its impact on medical students at a public university in Alagoas. 97 medical students from the 1st to the 6th grade were randomly selected. A standardized and validated questionnaire containing objective and subjective questions about sociodemographic conditions and clinical-epidemiological aspects was applied. The prevalence of headache was 95.9%. The majority was female gender (55.3%). All the positives cases reported the headache as a cause of absenteeism and impaired performance in the studies, it at some point. Most of the positive cases reported never having treated with a neurologist (95.9%). 76.5% claimed self-medication with common analgesics, presenting statistical relevance (p: 0.0). A higher prevalence rate was found in females, corroborating with the literature. There was an attribution of headache to periods of greater stress during the school semester, so it is well known that several factors are described as triggering or attenuating. In view of the report of absenteeism and academic performance impairment, added to a non-search of medical care and and self-medication, it is necessary to provide guidance in order to encourage these students to seek appropriate treatment and then achieve a better quality of life.