The objective was to examine potential trigger factors of migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) in clinic patients and in subjects from the population and to compare the patients’ personal experience with their theoretical knowledge. A cross-sectional study was carried out in a headache centre. There were 120 subjects comprising 66 patients with migraine and 22 with TTH from a headache outpatient clinic and 32 persons with headache (migraine or TTH) from the population.A semistructured interviewcovering biographic data,lifestyle, medical history,headache characteristicsand 25 potential trigger factorsdifferentiating betweenthe patients’ personal experienceand their theoretical knowledgewas used. The most commontrigger factors experiencedby the patients were weather(82.5%), stress (66.7%),menstruation (51.4%) andrelaxation after stress (50%).The vast majority of triggersoccurred occasionally andnot consistently. The patientsexperienced 8.9±4.3 triggerfactors (range 0–20) and theyknew 13.2±6.0 (range 1–27).The number of experiencedtriggers was smallest in thepopulation group (p=0.002),whereas the number of triggersknown did not differ in thethree study groups. Comparingtheoretical knowledge withpersonal experience showedthe largest differences fororal contraceptives (65.0 vs.14.7%, p<0.001), chocolate(61.7 vs. 14.3%, p>0.001)and cheese (52.5 vs. 8.4%,p<0.001). In conclusion,almost all trigger factors areexperienced occasionally andnot consistently by the majorityof patients. Subjects fromthe population experiencetrigger factors less oftenthan clinic patients.The difference betweentheoretical knowledge andpersonal experience is largestfor oral contraceptives, chocolateand cheese.
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