METHODS

Data sources:

Medline (to November 2005) and reference lists of primary studies, review articles, and textbooks.

Study selection and assessment:

studies that assessed the usefulness of history and physical examination in predicting the diagnosis of a migraine type headache using International Headache Society criteria applied by a neurologist as the gold standard, and the presence of significant intracranial pathology in adults with non-traumatic headache using neuroimaging as the gold standard. Studies assessing patients with a specific underlying chronic disease were excluded. 4 studies of migraine (n = 1210, mean age range 39–40 y, prevalence 50–89%) and 11 studies of neuroimaging (n = 3725, …