Scuba Diving Is Not Associated With High Prevalence of Headache: A Cross-Sectional Study in Men

Objective. To study the prevalence of cephalalgia in male divers. Background.-Scuba divers work in stressing environments and have a high cerebrovascular risk, both conditions which are supposed to contribute to the genesis of cephalalgia. However, no study assessed expressly the prevalence of cephalalgia in divers, to date. Methods.-We enrolled 201 professional male scuba divers (41.0 +/- 7.2 years) and controls (41.1 +/- 7.2 years), and the risk ratio and its corresponding 95% confidence of suffering from cephalalgia was calculated. Results.-We found that 16% of divers and 22% of matched controls were affected by cephalalgia (P>.05), accounting for a risk ratio of 0.71 (95% CI 0.47-1.07). Divers reported fewer attacks per month (1.8 +/- 0.7, n = 32) with regard to controls (2.5 +/- 1.8, n = 45) (P=.02), but no differences concerning age at onset and severity were detected (P>.05). Divers suffered from migraine, migraine with aura and tension headache as much as controls. Conclusion.-Scuba diving, an intense physical activity characterized by cerebral micro-vascular distress, is not associated with cephalalgia, as a whole, or migraine, tension headache or migraine with aura, more commonly than in a matched, non-diving, population. A longitudinal study may disclose if diving may act as a protective factor in the occurrence of crises of cephalalgia.