Are parents aware of their schoolchildren's headaches?

BACKGROUND The objective of this study is to determine parents' awareness of their children's headaches and to evaluate some of the factors that affect this awareness. METHODS The subjects of the study are 2601 children who were diagnosed with headache. Data on the children and the parents was collected using a detailed data form. The diagnosis of headache in children was made on the basis of the criteria of the International Headache Society (IHS). If the parents of a child diagnosed with headache reported that their child had headache, the parent was evaluated to be aware of his/her child's headache. In the statistical analyses, chi-square and binary logistic regression were used. RESULTS Almost 74% of parents were aware of their children's headache. It was found that migraine type headache, female gender, being the first child of the family, travel sickness of children, the presence of headache history in one of the family members; the number of family members and mother's age are factors that affect the awareness level of parents. It was also revealed that parents who do not work outside are more aware of their children's headache and that educational and financial status do not have any effect on the degree of awareness. CONCLUSIONS In a city like Mersin, which is economically well developed when compared with the rest of the country, one quarter of the parents are not aware of their children's headache.