Research for the factors effecting the headache experienced by the health-care personnel in COVID-19 pandemic: A monocentric survey study

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine the factors that may be related to the headache experienced by health-care
professionals in the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Methods: The target population of the study consisted of the health-care professionals working in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The questionnaire form consisted of 40 questions. The demographic information of the participants, the presence of contact
with the COVID-19 patient, they used which personal protective equipment (PPE) and how often, the effect of the pandemic
process on the lifestyle, the presence of visual defects, the effect of the pandemic process on water consumption, the presence
of old or de novo headaches, the factors that may affect this headache, and the factors that reduce the pain were questioned
in the survey.
Results: A total of 177 health-care professionals participated in the study. About 93.8% of the participants use masks daily for
more than 4 h. About 62.7% of the participants stated that their water consumption increased on the days when they used
PPE. About 72.3% of the participants reported disruption in sleep patterns, 83.1% of them reported increase in their stress and
anxiety. About 65.5% of the participants experienced headaches during the pandemic process. They reported that the most
likely causes of headache were excessive sweating and difficulty in breathing due to the use of PPE.
Conclusion: During the pandemic, a substantial portion of health-care professionals experiences headaches. Besides the
physical difficulties caused by the use of PPE, the stress caused by the pandemic process should not be ignored.