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%T Use of outpatient medical care by headache patients in Germany: a population-based cross-sectional study %A Müller, Britta %A Dresler, Thomas %A Gaul, Charly %A Jürgens, Tim %A Kropp, Peter %A Rehfeld, Anna %A Reis, Olaf %A Ruscheweyh, Ruth %A Straube, Andreas %A Förderreuther, Stefanie %J The Journal of Headache and Pain %P 1-10 %V 21 %D 2020 %K headache; population-based study; headache-specific physician consultation; patients' occupational status %@ 1129-2377 %~ FDB %> https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-74314-8 %X Background: Headache sufferers in need of professional health care often do not utilize the care available, and factors influencing headache-specific physician consultation are not yet understood. Objectives of this study are (1) to assess self-reported headache-specific physician consultations and (2) to identify headache-related and sociodemographic predictors. Methods: Data of a random sample of the general population in Germany aged ≥14 years were analyzed (N = 2461). A multivariate binary logistic regression was conducted to identify a parsimonious model to predict physician consultation. Results: 50.7% of the participants with headache reported at least one headache-specific physician consultation during lifetime. Of these, 53.6% had seen one, 26.1% two, and 20.3% more than two physicians because of their headaches. The odds of physician consultation increased with the number of headache days per month (HDM) (reference HDM 1) HDM 1–3 (OR = 2.29), HDM 4–14 (OR = 2.41), and HDM ≥15 (OR = 4.83) and increasing Headache Impact Test score (HIT-6) (reference “no or little impact”) moderate impact (OR = 1.74), substantial impact (OR = 3.01), and severe impact (OR = 5.08). Middle-aged participants were more likely to have consulted than younger and older ones (reference 14–34 years) 35–54 years (OR = 1.90), 55–74 years (OR = 1.96), ≥75 years (OR = 1.02). The odds of physician consultation among self-employed subjects were lower than among employed manual workers (OR = 0.48). The living environment (rural versus urban) did not have an influence on the consultation frequency. Conclusion: The results indicate that apart from burden-related factors (headache frequency; headache impact), health care utilization patterns are also influenced by patients’ occupational status and age. Further research is needed to analyze whether the lower consultation rate means that the self-employed have a higher risk of chronification or that they have more effective self-management strategies regarding headache. %C MISC %G en %9 journal article %W GESIS - http://www.gesis.org %~ SSOAR - http://www.ssoar.info