Abstract Background Headache is the most common pain disorder in children and adolescents and is associated with diverse dysfunctions and psychological symptoms. Several studies evidenced sex-specific differences in headache frequency. Until now no study exists that examined sex-specific patterns of change in paediatric headache across time and included pain-related somatic and socio- psychological predictors.
In multinomial logistic regression analyses the influence of several predictors on the class membership was examined.
Results For girls, a four-class model was identified as the best fitting model. While the majority of girls reported no Regarding logistic regression analyses, migraine and parental headache proved to be stable predictors across sexes.
Life events, dysfunctional stress coping and school burden were also able to differentiate at least between some classes in both sexes. Conclusions The identified trajectories reflect sex-specific differences in paediatric headache, as seen in the number and type of classes extracted. The documented risk factors can deliver ideas for preventive actions and considerations for treatment programmes. Besides the analysis of trajectories that differ significantly with regard to their starting level and average growth, we also wanted to identify predictors that influence the class membership of the individuals.
Headache is the most common pain disorder in children and adolescents [ 1 , 2 ]. A systematic review of population-based studies found an overall prevalence rate of Various studies indicate sex differences in headache prevalence, with girls suffering more often from headache than boys [ 5 , 6 ].
