Clinical study of headache with special reference to ophthalmic cause

Background: Rapid modernization of the world requires more attention thereby aggravating eye strain in individuals, resulting into various types of headache disorders. Headache-related disorders are an important cause of disability worldwide, and ophthalmic causes for headache are well known. Objectives: The aims of this study were: (i) to estimate the prevalence of headache disorders in patients attending the eye OPD; (ii) to evaluate the various causes of headache with special reference to ophthalmic conditions; and (iii ) to study the correlation between location of headache and possible ocular causes. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was carried out on 1520 patients from November 2006 to October 2009 at a tertiary eye care center. Detailed clinical history was taken with particular emphasis on onset, duration, location, intensity, character, diurnal variation, and exaggerating and relieving factors. Ocular examination included vision, slit-lamp examination, cycloplegic refraction, orthoptic evaluation, intraocular pressure measurement, and fundoscopy. Besides ocular examination, medical, ENT, dental, and neurological checkup along with investigations such as hemoglobin, blood sugar, X-ray of skull and paranasal sinuses, and CT scan of sinuses and brain were carried out whenever needed and treatment was advised accordingly. The data was entered on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and analyzed using SPSS software, version 14.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL). P value