Primary headache disorders in the adult general population of Pakistan - a cross sectional nationwide prevalence survey.

Background: The large geographical gaps in our knowledge of the prevalence and burden of headache disorders include almost all of Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). We report a nationwide population-based study in Pakistan, an EMR country with the sixth largest population in the world, conducted as a project within the Global Campaign against Headache.

Methods: We surveyed six locations from the four provinces of Pakistan: Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan.

Fraud in a population-based study of headache: prevention, detection and correction.

Background: In medicine, research misconduct is historically associated with laboratory or pharmaceutical research, but the vulnerability of epidemiological surveys should be recognized. As these surveys underpin health policy and allocation of limited resources, misreporting can have far-reaching implications. We report how fraud in a nationwide headache survey occurred and how it was discovered and rectified before it could cause harm.

The burden of headache disorders in Pakistan: methodology of a population-based nationwide study, and questionnaire validation.

Background: Large geographical gaps in our knowledge of the prevalence and burden of headache disorders include Pakistan, a country with major problems of poverty, illiteracy and security. We report implementation in this country of standard methods developed by Lifting The Burden (LTB) for population-based burden-of-headache studies.

Methods: We surveyed six locations from the four provinces: Lahore and Multan (Punjab), Karachi and Sukkur (Sindh), Abbottabad (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Gwadar (Baluchistan).