Migraine and Quality of Life in High School Students

Abstract

The aim of the study was to estimate quality of life and determine the adjusted association of migraine with the quality of life in a sample of students. This population-based study was performed among 857 high school students in Boukan City (with a Kurdish language-speaking population, about 600 km west of the city of Tehran, Iran). The World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire was used along with International Headache Society criteria. Multiple linear regression models were applied. The mean scores of quality of life domains of physical health, psychological, environmental, and social relationships were 69.1 (standard deviation = 16.5), 61.5 (standard deviation = 18. 1), 66.3 (standard deviation = 20. 8), and 65.2 (standard deviation = 17. 8) out of 100, respectively. Migraine after adjusting for the other factors was associated significantly with the scores in the physical (P = .002), social (P = .002), and environmental (P = .033) domains. Migraine is associated with reducing the physical, environmental, and social aspects of the students' quality of life.

Comparison of Children with Migraine and Those with Tension-Type Headache for Psychiatric Symptoms and Quality of Life

“…62 An adult study also reported an independent association of selfreported depression and worse QoL in children with headache. 63 Contrary to the results from a past study, 28 we did not find a link between sociodemographic factors and QoLs of children with headache. Until date, research studies have not usually focused the headache-specific, psychiatric, and sociodemographic factors together, and mixed results regarding the determinants of QoL seem to be stem from methodological differences among studies.…”

“…The results of previous studies have consistently shown chronic headaches to have an adverse impact on the QOL of affected children. [25][26][27][28][29] Some studies also compared the QoL of children with migraine with that of children with TTH and found no significant difference between the two groups. 25,30 There is an uncertainty regarding the determinants of QoL in children with headache due to methodological differences.…”

“…For instance, some studies have considered only the effects of the headache-specific factors, such as age at onset, duration, severity of headache, and sociodemographic factors, on the QoL. 28,29,31,32 However, a study by Slater et al has taken into account only the psychiatric disturbances of the children. 33 Until date, several studies have addressed the headache-specific and psychiatric factors together.…”

Quality of life in children and adolescents with migraine: an Austrian monocentric, cross-sectional questionnaire study

“…That this is not the case for other populations is underlined by contradictory results in literature. Some migraineurs felt a subjective lack of support by their siblings [47] and had significantly reduced scores in social relationship compared to healthy children, having a lower ability to communicate in school and social environment [48]. Whether there is an association between social relationships and migraine is hard to assess, due to conflicting outcomes from literature.…”

A pilot educational intervention for headache and concussion

“…[19][20][21] These data are also important given that there is concern about migraine and stigma, and because patients report decreased quality of life compared to their peers. [22][23][24] Increased education and awareness among students and spread of this knowledge to their families could lead to increased diagnosis and treatment for migraine and concussion, thereby decreasing the time of onset to diagnosis for these conditions. Finally, despite our small sample size, there appeared to be improvement in knowledge based on differences in the preassessment and subsequent assessments.…”