Headache Among Patients With HIV Disease: Prevalence, Characteristics, and Associations

Problematic headache is highly prevalent among patients with HIV/AIDS, most of which conform to the semiology of chronic migraine, although with some atypical features such as bilateral location and pressing/tightening quality. A low frequency of identifiable secondary causes is likely attributable to reduced frequency of opportunistic infections in the current era of HAART. Disease severity is strongly predictive of headache, highlighting the importance of physician attention to headache symptoms and of patient adherence to treatment.