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pISSN 2005-9159
eISSN 2093-0569
eISSN 2093-0569
Korean J Pain 2024; 37(3): 247-255
Published online July 1, 2024 https://doi.org/10.3344/kjp.24046
Copyright © The Korean Pain Society.
Larissa Clementino Leite Sá Carvalho1 
, Priscila Aparecida da Silva2 , Pedro Augusto Sampaio Rocha-Filho1,3
1Hospital Universitario Oswaldo Cruz, Universidade de Pernambuco (UPE), Recife, Brazil
2Scientific Initiation Fellowships Institutional Program (CNPq/PROPESQI-UFPE), Centro de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Brazil
3Division of Neuropsychiatry, Centro de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Recife, Brazil
Correspondence to:Pedro Augusto Sampaio Rocha-Filho
Division of Neuropsychiatry, Centro de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Rua General Joaquim Inacio, 830, Sala 1412 - Edf The Plaza Business Center, Recife, Pernambuco – CEP: 50070-495, Brazil
Tel: +55-81-31298807, Fax: +55-81-31298807, E-mail: pedroasampaio@gmail.com
Handling Editor: Woo Seog Sim
Received: February 13, 2024; Revised: April 4, 2024; Accepted: April 5, 2024
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Background: Little is known about the frequency and impact of the persistent headache and about the incidence of chronic daily headache (CDH) after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The aim of this prospective cohort study was to assess the incidence, risk factors, characteristics, and impact of CDH in patients with COVID-19.
Methods: In the first stage, 288 patients were interviewed by telephone after the acute phase of COVID-19. Subsequently, 199 patients who presented headache were reinterviewed at least one year after COVID-19. Headaches that persisted beyond the acute phase of COVID-19 for three or more months and presented frequency ≥ 45 days over the first three months were considered to be CDH.
Results: One hundred and twenty-three patients were included, 56% were females; median age: 50 years (25th and 75th percentile: 41;58). The headache persisted beyond the acute phase of COVID-19 in 52%, and 20.3% had CDH (95% confidence interval: 13.6–28.2). Individuals who previously had headaches and who had headaches of greater intensity during the acute phase were at higher risk of developing CDH. The group with CDH included more females, greater impact of headache, more persistence of headache beyond the 120th day of COVID-19 and less throbbing headache than did the other individuals whose headache persisted.
Conclusions: Patients who had COVID-19 had a high incidence of CDH. Previous headache and greater intensity of headache were associated with higher risk of CDH.
Keywords: COVID-19, Headache, Headache Disorders, Secondary, New Daily Persistent Headache, Pain, Post- Acute COVID-19 Syndrome, Prospective Studies, Risk Factors
