Prevalence and Precipitating Factors of Migraine in Secondary School Students in Thailand

Abstract

Introduction Migraine is the most common primary headache in children which leads to disturbance of school performance and impaired quality of life. The prevalence of migraine is different between countries and ethnicities; this study determines the prevalence and precipitating factors of migraine in Thailand. Method This cross-sectional school-based study was conducted in Nakhon Ratchasima. The children aged between 12 and 18 years from four secondary schools were selected by stratified randomization method. The screening questionnaire and directed interview with physical examination were done and migraine was diagnosed based on the criteria of International Classification of Headache Disorders III. The prevalence of migraine was identified and baseline characteristic of disease with precipitating factors was evaluated. Results A total of 2,744 students aged between 12 and 18 years (900 males, 1,844 females) were recruited; mean age was 14.3 ± 1.75 years. Fifty-five students were diagnosed with migraine (20 males [36.36%], 35 females [63.64%], mean age: 15.1 ± 1.6 years). The prevalence of migraine was 1.98%. Migraine prevalence was predominant in female adolescents with a common feature being migraine without aura. The important precipitating factor in this study was stress from academic achievement. Conclusion Migraine is a common disease in children and under-recognized in school students, and stress is the major precipitating factor.

Primary headache epidemiology in children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…A sensitivity analysis was performed by excluding studies that were ranked as low-quality (score ≤ 4) at the JBI tool [ 14 , 26 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 34 , 37 , 42 , 44 , 55 ]. The results of the sensitivity analysis showed no substantial difference in the overall primary headache prevalence and in the subgroups by diagnosis.…”

“…Twenty-seven studies reported the difference prevalence of migraine by sex and the weighted-pooled prevalence of migraine in females was 4% [95% CI: 1%-10%], and 3% [95% CI: 1%-7%] in males. Data for MwoA and MwA were extracted from 13 studies [16,21,28,29,31,34,41,43,44,[53][54][55]58], including 3,481 and 1,322 subjects with MwoA and MwA, respectively. The weighted-pooled prevalence of MwoA was 8% (I 2 = 98%; 95% CI: 5%-12%) and 3% for MwA (I 2 = 98%; 95%CI: 2%-4%); again the heterogeneity was ranked as high.…”