Review of Ocular and Non-Ocular causes of Headache in Adult and Pediatric Patients; A multicenter study

Purpose:  To determine ocular and non-ocular causes of headache in adult and pediatric patients in three tertiary care hospital of Multan, Pakistan Study Design:  Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study:  This multi-centre study was conducted in Combined Military Hospital, Multan, Pakistan and The Children’s Hospital and The Institute of Child Health, Multan, Pakistan from February 2023 to September 2023. Methods:  The non-probability convenience sampling technique was used. The data collection and diagnosis were done by a consultant ophthalmologist. The statistical analysis of this study was conducted using SPSS version 23. Results:  The study comprised of a total of 600 patients. The mean age of the adult patients was 27.16±14.39 years ranging between 16to 80 years and the mean age of pediatric patients was 10.1±2.40 years. The patients were divided into four groups based on the etiology of headache that were ocular, non-ocular, combined ocular causes and ocular and non-ocular causes combined. The most common ocular cause was myopia in 43(14.3%) adults and 47 (15.8%) pediatric patients. However, the most common non-ocular cause was migraine in 72(24.0%) adult patients and frontal sinusitis in 43 (14.3%) pediatric patients. Conclusion:  Refractive errors were the most common ocular etiology of headache in ophthalmology patients predominately myopia in the adult and pediatric population. Migraine was the most common non-ocular etiology in adult population whereas frontal sinusitis was most common in the pediatric age group.