Migraine and Headache Prevalence and Associated Comorbidities in a Large Saudi Sample

Abstract

Background: We aimed to assess the prevalence of headache and migraine, along with comorbidities, in a large ­Saudi sample. Methods: Self-reported information was collected about headache, migraine and migraine comorbidities including depression, restless legs syndrome (RLS), syncope, bruxism, hypertension and ischaemic disease. The OR was estimated using logistic regression for any associations with headache and migraine. We then analyzed to find a trend of increasing migraine symptoms for each significant comorbidity. Results: Out of 4,943 respondents, 4,158 (84.12%) had recurring headaches. Migraine was present in 1,333 (26.97%), with female predominance (ratio of 1: 2.9). There were statistically significant ORs between migraine and female sex, current smokers, higher income, hypertension, depression, syncope, RLS and bruxism. Non-migraine headaches were significantly associated with female sex, age, RLS and ischaemic disease. Migraine with aura was significantly associated with syncope, ischaemic disease, higher income and BMI. There was an overall significant trend of increasing migraine features in the presence of depression, syncope, RLS, bruxism and hypertension. Conclusions: Headache in general and migraine in particular are associated with multiple comorbidities in comparison to non-headache participants in our cohort, with an estimated prevalence similar to that of western countries.

Levels and determinants of knowledge about chronic migraine diagnosis and management among primary health-care physicians in ministry of health, Jeddah 2019

“…Most of CM patients are referred from primary health-care centers to secondary facilitates. [ 14 15 ] Although the role of the primary-care physician (PCP) remains debatable, it is important in terms of identifying the nonclassical clinical presentation and the disease unusual history, because this represents the first health-care line. In addition, providing good training to PCPs would support their discriminative capacity to differentiate between EM and CM.…”

Primary headache characters and coping strategies among medical students of Umm Al-Qura University in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia

“…The prevalences in these studies were: 12.1%, 63.0%, 59.8%, 84.1%, 8.0%, 8.0%. 2,[12][13][14][15][16][17] In one study, the last one-year Saudi prevalence of primary headache disorders among the Saudi community adults described a national crude prevalence of 63%. 13 Aside from medical students, there was one study which was conducted on medical and paramedical health workers in hospitals of Taif city.…”

Factors associated with delayed diagnosis of migraine: A hospital-based cross-sectional study

“…Migraine, a common disorder is reported to be associated with various co-morbidities including functional GI and psychiatric comorbidities such as depression and anxiety. [678910112122] It has been suggested that along with clinical skills, associated co-morbidities may be responsible for diagnostic delay in migraine. [1223] Neuropsychiatric comorbidities, mainly depression and anxiety are very common in migraineurs and are reported to have bidirectional relationship.…”