Migraine in Patients Attending a Migraine Clinic: An Analysis by Computer of Age, Sex and Family History

Abstract

SYNOPSIS A survey is in progress of patients attending the Charing Cross Hospital Migraine Clinic in London. Information collected is stored for retrieval and analysis by computer. This paper reports some initial findings from patients seen during the first 212 years since the clinic opened. Patients registering with such a specialized clinic are not representative of the migraine population at large. Migraine sufferers present to the clinic at all ages from 6 to 70, but in three peaks, at 21–30, 41–45 and 51–55 years. Although onset of migraine tends to be earlier in males than in females, the latter are more likely to present during the first of these peaks. Migraine in younger clinic patients is predominantly classical in type. This predominance declines with increasing age at onset and may reverse when onset is delayed beyond 40. An inverse correlation exists in both sexes between age at onset of classical or common migraine and strength of family history. Females have a strong family history more commonly than males, except in those with onset in childhood. The mother is the more frequently affected parent, but involvement of the father may be associated more closely with early onset. Therefore, although migraine appears predominantly to be a disease of females with a female parental history, in clinic patients with early onset there is a relative preponderance of males and of male parental history.

The Diagnostic Value of Historical Features in Primary Headache Syndromes

“…Breslau and colleagues 15 studied migraine incidence in 1007 unselected individuals in the general population and reported a mean age at onset of any migraine of 13.7 years for men and 17.6 years for women. Steiner and colleagues 16 found that only 8% of 479 patients with migraine experienced onset after 40 years of age. Patients with migrainelike headaches occurring for the first time after 40 years of age deserve particular diagnostic diligence to exclude other potential causes of headache.…”

Características clínicas da enxaqueca sem aura

“…Alguns autores, no entanto, encontraram este pico entre 20 e 29 anos 11,12 . Stewart e col. 10 acreditam que estes achados mais tardios se devem provavelmente a erros de memória dos pacientes.…”

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Expression of Recurrent Headache as a Function of the Reporting Age in Twins

“…A positive family history for migraine ascertained clinically was more frequently reported in cases with early onset as compared to late onset cases (Devoto et al, 1986;Steiner et al, 1980). In migraine with aura, there is evidence of multiple distributions of the age at migraine onset with peaks in late adolescence and after 30 years of age, respectively (Russell et al, 1996;Stewart et al, 1991).…”