Migraine Types and Triggering Factors in Children

Objective Migraine is a common problem in children and the mean prevalence of migraine in Europe among 170,000 adults was 14.7% (8% in men and 17.6% in women) and in children and youth (36,000 participants), the prevalences were (9.2% for all, 5.2% in boys and 9.1% in girls) and the lifetime prevalences were (16, 11 and 20%, respectively). To determine the epidemiology of migraine and evaluate migraine triggering factors in children. Materials & Methods Two-hundred twenty-eight children with a maximum age of 12 years who fulfilled the ICHD-II criteria for pediatric migraine were enrolled into the study. Results This study shows that migraine is slightly more common in boys and its peak incidence is between ages 8 and 12 and most patients have three to five headache attacks per month. The pain has a tightening, stabbing or vague quality in about 70% of children with migraine and bilateral headache is slightly more common. The common triggering factors in children migraine were stress, noise, sleeplessness, hunger and light and the common relieving factors were sleep, analgesics, silence, darkness and eating. Conclusion Migraine is a common problem in children with an equal incidence in boys and girls before adolescence and more common in girls after adolescence.