Self-reported causes of headache adults U.S. by age 2017

This statistic shows the percentage of adults in the U.S. who believed select sources were the cause of their headaches as of February 2017, by age. It was found that 41 percent of respondents aged 18 to 30 years believed their headaches were caused by too much time in front of screens, compared to 25 percent of those aged 46 to 60 years.

Percentage of U.S. adults who believed select sources were the cause of their headaches as of 2017, by age

Characteristic	18 to 30 years	31 to 45 years	46 to 60 years	61 years and older
Not enough exercise	12%	15%	10%	12%
Too much time spent in front of screens	41%	28%	25%	16%
Overweight	9%	13%	8%	0%
Genetic predisposition	12%	9%	6%	6%
Psychosomatic illness	5%	6%	2%	2%
Poor diet	21%	22%	12%	8%
Stress	66%	59%	68%	47%
Noise	29%	23%	18%	10%
Other	3%	10%	21%	21%
Don’t know	9%	14%	12%	29%
Prefer not to answer	2%	2%	1%	0%

0%5%10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%55%60%65%70%75%

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Release date

February 2017

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

February 16 to 27, 2017

Number of respondents

739 respondents

Age group

18 years and older

Special properties

suffered at least once per month from headaches

Method of interview

Online survey

Supplementary notes

Original question: "What do you think causes your headache?"
Respondents could choose multiple answers.

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