We aim to assess the prevalence of headache among university students in various universities in Egypt and to investigate its effects on their academic and social lives.

Headache disorders are prevalent health issues, with studies indicating high lifetime and point prevalence rates, particularly among university students. These conditions can significantly impact students' academic performance, leading to absenteeism, reduced productivity, and a higher number of discipline failures. Understanding the prevalence and effects of headaches on academic life is crucial to support students' overall well-being and academic success.

The cross-sectional data of university students was obtained by online or offline survey. We performed a pilot study to make sure the questions were easy-to-understand for the Egyptian community. Cronbach’s alpha was calculated to test the reliability and internal consistency of each scale. We also performed logistic regression to investigate the association between headache and academic performance, daily activity, quality of life, productivity, and sleep patterns of participants.

This present study included 3720 participants aged 18-26 years old, of whom 3510 (94.4%) reported experiencing headache during the last 12 months. Compared to those without headache, participants with headache tended to have lower GPA scores (P = 0.009), have their daily activity severely impacted (P < .001), not having a routine sleeping pattern (P = 0.004), and to experience more difficulties with sleeping habits (OR = 2.075, P < .001).