%0 Journal Article %T Characteristics of primary stabbing headache in a tertiary neurological clinic in China. %A Liang X %A Ying G %A Huang Q %A Wang J %A Li N %A Tan G %A Zhang TR %A Huang Z %A Zhou J %J Pain Med %V 15 %N 5 %D May 2014 %M 24506285 %F 3.637 %R 10.1111/pme.12361 %X OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical characteristics of primary stabbing headache (PSH) and its prevalence in a neurology outpatient center at a university hospital in China.
METHODS: We surveyed patients via face-to-face interviews by physicians using a questionnaire for headache.
RESULTS: Of 1,219 participating patients with headache, 18 (1.5%) were diagnosed with PSH. The mean age was 44.1 ± 15.5 years. The headaches were localized to a single fixed area in 61.1% of patients. The frontal cerebral regions were reported as most common areas. Fourteen patients (77.8%) suffered from moderate to severe intensity headache with a mean score of 4.3 ± 1.9 on an 11-point pain scale. Of the patients, 27.8% had accompanying symptoms with photophobia/phonophobia as the most common complaint(s). Fifty percent of patients reported trigger factors, with weather change noted as a common trigger.
CONCLUSIONS: PSH was shown to have an onset at middle age with moderate-to-severe intensity attacks localized predominantly within the first division of the trigeminal nerve. Accompanying phenomena and trigger factors were common and should be noted, implying further research to be conducted.