Objective: To investigate the relationship between changes in actual presence of headache and the experience of different subdomains of quality of life (QoL) in adolescents.
Design: Diary entered measurements of headache intensity and frequency were related to simultaneously recorded data on a QoL questionnaire for adolescents.
Setting: Subjects completed both the QoL questionnaires and the headache diaries at home.
Subjects: Subjects were selected by screening the total population of two secondary schools (N = 1566) for headache and migraine symptoms. Sixty-four students subject to chronic headache or migraine participated in the study. All subjects were diagnosed by a neurologist, following the IHS criteria for migraine.
Conclusion: Changes in headache intensity and frequency were related to changes in self-reported QoL within all QoL subdomains. More headache coincided with a lower self-reported QoL.