Headaches in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: preliminary results of a national survey

Headache in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is a current topic, being divided into pre-infection headache, headache attributed to COVID-19 infection and post-COVID-19 headaches. The aim of the research was to analyze the peculiarities of the evolution and treatment of headache during the COVID-19 pandemic in the cohort of patients from the Republic of Moldova. The study was an online survey. People with COVID-19 infection and headaches were asked to complete a structured, validated and approved questionnaire, which included questions on: demographics, comorbidities, clinical signs of COVID-19 infection, headache before, during and after COVID-19 infection, screening for anxiety, depression and sleep disorders. The data collected for 3 months from the launch are presented (January - March 2021). The study showed that half (58.3%) of the respondents had different forms of headache before COVID-19 infection. During the infection period - 91% of the respondents had bouts of headache attributed to COVID-19, which were of high intensity, holocranial localization, being associated with such signs as vertigo, nausea, peripheral vegetative signs, pronounced asthenia (80%) and pain with another location (85.5%). Persistent headache after COVID-19 was reported by 62.7% of respondents, it being severe for 16.7% of them. Preliminary results show that headache during COVID-19 is prevalent and persists after COVID-19 causing disability and increased costs. Further studies are needed to validate these results.