PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - David Kernick AU - Sally Stapley AU - William Hamilton TI - GPs' classification of headache: is primary headache underdiagnosed? AID - 10.3399/bjgp08X264072 DP - 2008 Feb 01 TA - British Journal of General Practice PG - 102--104 VI - 58 IP - 547 4099 - http://bjgp.org/content/58/547/102.short 4100 - http://bjgp.org/content/58/547/102.full SO - Br J Gen Pract2008 Feb 01; 58 AB - With a high economic, social, and personal burden, headache remains an important health problem. How UK GPs diagnose headache in the UK is unknown. In this study, a large primary care database was used and diagnostic categories were described for 91 121 adult patients with new-onset headache, that is, patients who had not consulted for headache in the previous year. Seventy per cent of headaches were not given a diagnostic label, 24% were diagnosed as primary, and 6% as secondary headaches. It is suggested that GPs' difficulty in diagnosing headache presentations contributes to the high level of morbidity and unmet need in this disease.