Abstract text (incl. figure legends and references)

Objective: The objective of this study was to use the HIT-6 questionnaire to measure the level of disability caused by various forms of headache disorders in Estonian adults, as well as to describe the relationship between HIT-6 score and characteristics including age, sex, BMI, education, urban vs rural habitat, smoking, and physical activity.

Methods: From January 2016 to May 2017, a population-based random sample study was undertaken in Estonia. The HIT-6 questionnaire was used to assess headache-related burden.

Results: The HIT-6 scores of 475 subjects were evaluated. Subjects with chronic headaches had higher HIT-6 scores than episodic headaches (60.7±9.7 and 52.6±8.9, respectively), and subjects with migrainous headaches had higher HIT-6 scores than non-migrainous headaches (56.3±8.4 and 50.1±8.8, respectively). Both differences were statistically significant. Age, sex, BMI, education, urban vs rural habitat, smoking, and physical activity had no significant effect of HIT-6 scores.

Conclusion: The HIT-score is influenced by the diagnosed headache - episodic vs chronic and migrainous vs non-migrainous - and less so by socio-demographic factors.