Abstract

Background: Headache is considered as one of the most common chronic conditions. It can vary on the severity of mild-to-severe headaches. It can also be a symptom of other serious conditions, therefore, knowing the figures for headache diagnosis, and treatment is crucial. The goal of this study is to figure out the patients who suffer from headaches, the behavior of patients toward their headache, and to know the causes that may be seen by the public as causes of headaches.
Methodology: The study included a self-administered questionnaire for the general public living in the Eastern area of Saudi Arabia. The survey explored demographic data, migraine diagnostic tools, and the effectiveness of the diagnosis by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test, and if it leads to a diagnosis or the cause of this disease whom many people suffer from, or even after the MRI test there will remain many people who suffer from headache for unknown reasons.
Results: In the opinion of patients toward their diagnosis, there is a significant difference between different investigations in terms of patients' opinions (p-value < 0.001). Patients who had an MRI were significantly higher to believe that they had migraine headaches (10.3%) followed by headache due to fatigue (6.5%). The attitude of patients toward headache varied significantly (p-value < 0.001). A significantly higher percentage of patients who had an MRI consult their doctors when they had a headache.
Conclusion: MRI is a useful tool in the diagnosis of headache. Suspicion of migraine increases the chances of performing an MRI to the patients. Future studies in other regions of Saudi Arabia are essential.

Key words: Headache, attitude, diagnosis, symptoms, Saudi Arabia