Can headache impair intellectual abilities in children? An observational study

Abstract

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to assess the cognitive functioning of children affected by headache, pinpointing the differences in intelligence style between subjects affected by migraine without aura and subjects with tension-type headache.MethodsThe study population consisted of 147 children (mean age 10.82 ± 2.17 years) with headache, recruited from the Headache Center for Developmental Age, Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry Clinic, Second University of Naples. Cognitive profiling was performed using Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children Third Edition throughout the sample. According to the International Classification of Headache Disorders II criteria for pediatric age, subjects were divided into a migraine without aura group (n = 75; 43 boys, 32 girls) and a tension-type headache group (n = 72; 49 boys, 23 girls). The results were compared with the findings obtained from a sample of 137 healthy control subjects recruited from schools in the Campania region, matched for age and gender.ResultsNo difference in full intelligence quotient was found between the groups, but the children with tension-type headache had a lower verbal intelligence quotient and a higher performance intelligence quotient than the healthy controls and children with migraine. Factor analysis data showed that the children with migraine seemed to have lower perceptual organization than the children affected by tension-type headache.ConclusionTo our knowledge, studies on cognitive functioning in children affected by headache in the interictal phase are scarce, and our results suggest a new perspective in understanding of the neuropsychological aspects of young patients affected by headaches.

Primary nocturnal enuresis as a risk factor for sleep disorders: an observational questionnaire-based multicenter study

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Hypersomnia in children affected by migraine without aura: a questionnaire-based case-control study

“…The interrelationship between sleep disorders and headache is well recognized, although still obscure and not yet fully clarified. In particular, migraine in children is not only a painful syndrome but is also often accompanied by many severe disabilities/impairments, such as low emotional functioning, school absenteeism, impairment of academic performance and cognitive functioning,2,3 motor coordination,4 and sleep habits 5–8. Thus, in clinical practice, there are many alternative therapies that could be useful and promising for the treatment of headache symptoms in children, such as weight loss,9 treatment with nutraceuticals,10,11 and “sleep hygiene” (controlling of all behavioral and environmental factors that precede sleep) 12,13…”

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