Academic aptitude as a predictor of headache proneness during college: could headache be an outcome of low test scores?

Background: Academic work as well as compensated employment has been found adversely associated with frequent headache; headache remains a costly disorder to the person and to society. However, little is known of factors--other than prior headache complaints--that may predict headache frequency over extended periods of time. Based on previous research, effortful task engagement appears to be a contributing factor to headache onset. This suggests that relatively stable attributes that are likely to affect effort expenditure may predict headache frequency over long intervals.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to evaluate the predictability of headache proneness in college-attending students by college aptitude tests administered in high school.

Methods: Five hundred undergraduate students enrolled in a large public, urban university completed a number of questionnaires. Official admissions records of the college aptitude tests ACT (an acronym for the original test name, the American College Testing), SAT (the Scholastic Aptitude Test), and GPA (grade point average) were obtained and compared to the report of headache frequency.

Results: The ACT test mathematics predicted headache proneness in the hypothesized direction, while the ACT English test provided conflicting data; some evidence of gender differences was suggested.

Conclusion: While nearly all research on headache and work effectiveness has considered headache to be a cause of reduced efficiency or productivity, this study suggests that a factor which presumably affects the ease of work completion (e.g., scholastic aptitude) may predict headache, at least in some cases within the "work" environment of academia.