Women aged between 45 and
54 with headaches are twice as likely to be prescribed
drugs by their GP as men of the same age, a study suggests.
The findings by a team at King's College
London come from a study of 253 practices over nine years.
Women were three times as likely to see
the GP about headache than men.
But the study, published in the Journal
of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, found men were
more likely to be referred to hospital.
Headache is one of the top 10 reasons
for people to see a GP and accounts for 20% of sick leave.
It is also the most common neurological
symptom seen by family doctors and neurologists. The researchers
found there were a total of 570,795 consultations for
headache made by 413,221 patients aged over 15 during
the period studied.
Women's consultation rate for headache
was 6.4 out of every 100 per year compared to 2.5 for
men.
For both genders, the peak period for
consultations was between the ages of 15 and 24 - although
women in this age group were still three times more likely
to see the GP about headache than men.
When the researchers looked at prescribing
rates, they found that women were more likely to be given
migraine medication than men.
Drugs were prescribed to about one in
three women and to one in four men.
'Uncertainty'
But prescribing was most common for women
aged 45 to 54, who were given 78 prescriptions for every
100 consultations.
In all, 6% of patients with headache
were referred to a hospital specialist, mostly neurologists,
but these referrals were more likely among men.
Dr Martin Gulliford of the Department
of Public Health Sciences at King's College London, one
of the researchers who carried out the study, said: "Patterns
of treatment for headache clearly differ between men and
women.
"These varying patterns of medical treatment
at different ages and between men and women, suggest that
there is uncertainty concerning the best way of managing
troublesome headache symptoms.
"More effective treatments and better
management strategies are needed."
Dr Mayur Lakhani, chairman of the Royal
College of GPs, said: "As a practising GP, I know that
headaches are common and can be distressing.
"Headaches and migraine are also commoner
in women.
"The differences in medication prescribing
and referral patterns between men and women deserve further
research.
"It is important that there is equity
in healthcare and that neither men nor women are disadvantaged,
but have the same opportunity to receive clinically appropriate
treatment and referral."
