Clinical profile and triggers of migraine: an Indian perspective

Abstract

Background: Primary headache disorders are among the most ubiquitous disorders affecting people worldwide. Migraine headache is one of the commonest syndromes of primary headache. There are few studies regarding clinical profile of migraine and migraine triggers in India. The objective this study was to study the gender, age distribution, frequency, severity of migraine attacks and other associated symptoms in patients presenting with migraine. To study in detail about triggers of migraine in present study population.Methods: About 222 patients who presented with history suggestive of migraine with or without aura defined according to International classification of headache disorders 2, fulfilling the study criteria were included. The study duration was fifteen months from March 2017 to May 2018. Details were collected using a proforma.Results: In this study, incidence of Migraine is higher in females (169,76%) than males (53, 24%). Majority of migraine patients were between age group of 18-29 years constituting about 77 patients (34.65%). Frequency of migraine more commonly observed was 3-4 per month was observed in 64 patients (29%) and chronic migraine was seen in 19 patients (8.4%). Migraine without aura is most common type observed in this study. Many patients had more than one trigger. More common triggers identified were sun exposure (85, 38.3%), sleep deprivation (83, 37.4%), stress (84, 37.8%) and travel (80, 36%).Conclusions: Migraine is more common in females than males with majority being in between age group of 18-29 years. Many had frequency of 3-4 episodes per month. Most had more than one trigger.