1. Headache and multiple sclerosis: a population-based case–control study in Catania, Sicily.
- Author
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Nicoletti, A., Patti, F., Lo Fermo, S., Liberto, A., Castiglione, A., Laisa, P., Garifoli, A., La Naia, F., Maimone, D., Sorbello, V., Contrafatto, D., and Zappia, M.
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HEADACHE , *MULTIPLE sclerosis , *POPULATION , *CONTROL groups - Abstract
We carried out a population-based case–control study to evaluate the association between multiple sclerosis (MS) and headache. We had previously determined the incidence of MS during 1990–1999 in Catania, Sicily, identifying 155 incident MS patients; these subjects underwent a telephone interview using a standardized questionnaire for headache. Diagnosis and classification of headaches were made according to International Headache Society criteria (1988). A control group was selected from the general population through random digit dialling. One hundred and one (65.2%) MS patients, of the 155 identified, and 101 controls were screened for headaches. Fifty-eight (57.4%) MS patients and 38 (37.2%) controls fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of headache. A significant association between MS and headache was found with an adjusted odds ratio, estimated by logistic regression, of 2.18 (95% confidence interval 1.27, 3.93). Frequency of headaches in our MS population is higher than in the general population, supporting the hypothesis of a possible association between these two conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008
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