Top

BMC Neurology

Published in:

Open Access 01-12-2022 | Migraine | Research article

Prevalence and impact of migraine among university students in Bangladesh: findings from a cross-sectional survey

Authors: Abdur Rafi, Saiful Islam, M. Tasdik Hasan, Golam Hossain

Published in: BMC Neurology | Issue 1/2022

Abstract

Background

Migraine is one of the main causes of long-term morbidity, and it is one of the major contributors of all types of headaches in worldwide. Despite its disruptive effect, it is frequently underdiagnosed and undertreated in Bangladesh. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of migraines and its impact on daily life of university students in Bangladesh.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted among 2,352 students of Rajshahi University and Jahangirnagar University during March 2020 through a self-administered online survey. ID Migraine™ scale and HIT-6 scale were used to screen migraine and its impact respectively. Frequency distribution, Chi-square test and t-test along with multiple logistic regressions model were used to determine the prevalence and associated factors of migraine respectively.

Results

The overall prevalence of migraine among the participants was 21.4%. The prevalence was higher among females (29%) than males (12%). A multivariable logistic regression model provided the following eight risk factors of migraine: (i) gender (p < 0.01), (ii) family income (p < 0.01), (iii) marital status (p < 0.01), (iv) infrequent exercise (p < 0.01), (v) family history of headache (p < 0.01), (vi) high screen time (p < 0.05), (vii) depressive symptoms (p < 0.05) and (viii) anxiety disorder (p < 0.01). More than two-thirds of the people with migraines reported more than five attacks during the past month with moderate to severe intense headache. Stress was the most reported trigger of migraine among university students (71%) followed by irregular sleep (47%), academic pressure (33%), and external noise (28%). Almost 37% of the participants who had migraines reported that headache caused severe impact in their day to day life.

Conclusions

The prevalence of migraine among university students of Bangladesh is alarmingly high. Frequent migraine attacks and severe intensity of headache cause a substantial level of impact among the sufferers. Cautious avoidance of the triggering factors through appropriate interventions and prophylactic medication can mitigate the negative impact of migraine as well as improve the quality of life.

James SL, Abate D, Hassen Abate K, Abay SM, Abbafati C, Abbasi N, et al. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990â€“2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 [Internet]. 2018 [cited 2020 Sep 16]. Available from: https://github.com/ihmeuw/

Leonardi M, Raggi A. Burden of migraine: International perspectives. Neurol Sci. 2013;34(SUPPL. 1):117–8.CrossRef

Pesa J, Lage MJ. The Medical Costs of Migraine and Comorbid Anxiety and Depression. Headache J Head Face Pain. 2004;44(6):562–70. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2004.446004.x.CrossRef

Peroutka SJ. What Turns on a Migraine? A Systematic Review of Migraine Precipitating Factors [Internet]. Vol. 18, Current Pain and Headache Reports. Current Medicine Group LLC 1. 2014 [cited 2020 Sep 16]. p. 454. Available from: http://link.springer.com/https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-014-0454-z

Wang X, Zhou HB, Sun JM, Xing YH, Zhu YL, Zhao YS. The prevalence of migraine in university students: A systematic review and meta-analysis [Internet]. Vol. 23, European Journal of Neurology. Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2016 [cited 2020 Sep 16]. p. 464–75. Available from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/https://doi.org/10.1111/ene.12784

Al-Hashel JY, Ahmed SF, Alroughani R, Goadsby PJ. Migraine among medical students in Kuwait University. J Headache Pain. 2014;15(1):1–6.CrossRef

Menon B, Kinnera N. Prevalence and characteristics of migraine in medical students and its impact on their daily activities. Ann Indian Acad Neurol. 2013;16(2):221–5.CrossRef

Perveen I, Parvin R, Saha M, Bari MS, Huda MN, Ghosh MK. Prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Migraine and Co-Existing IBS-Migraine in Medical Students. J Clin DIAGNOSTIC Res. 2016;10(11):OC09.

Ray B, Paul N, Hazra A, Das S, Ghosal M, Misra A, et al. Prevalence, burden and risk factors of migraine: A community-based study from Eastern India. Neurol India. 2017;65(6):1280 http://www.neurologyindia.com/text.asp?2017/65/6/1280/217979.

10.

Eysenbach G. Improving the quality of web surveys: The Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES) [Internet]. Vol. 6, Journal of Medical Internet Research. Journal of Medical Internet Research; 2004 [cited 2020 Jul 19]. Available from: /pmc/articles/PMC1550605/?report=abstract

11.

Mollayeva T, Thurairajah P, Burton K, Mollayeva S, Shapiro CM, Colantonio A. The Pittsburgh sleep quality index as a screening tool for sleep dysfunction in clinical and non-clinical samples: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev. 2016;23:52–73.

12.

Bicakci S, Bozdemir N, Over F, Saatci E, Sarica Y. Prevalence of migraine diagnosis using ID Migraine among university students in southern Turkey. J Headache Pain 2008;9(3):159–63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10194-008-0031-0.

13.

Lipton RB, Dodick D, Sadovsky R, Kolodner K, Endicott J, Hettiarachchi J, et al. A self-administered screener for migraine in primary care: The ID migraine^TM validation study. Neurology. 2003;61(3):375–82. Available from: https://n.neurology.org/content/61/3/375.CrossRef

14.

Cousins G, Hijazze S, Van De Laar FA, Fahey T. Diagnostic accuracy of the ID migraine: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Headache. 2011;51:1140–8.CrossRef

15.

Tfelt-Hansen P, Pascual J, Ramadan N, Dahlöf C, D’Amico D, Diener H-C, et al. Guidelines for controlled trials of drugs in migraine: third edition A guide for investigators. Cephalalgia. 2012;32(1):6–38.CrossRef

16.

Kosinski M, Bayliss MS, Bjorner JB, Ware JEJ, Garber WH, Batenhorst A, et al. A six-item short-form survey for measuring headache impact: The HIT-6. Qual Life Res. 2003;12(8):963–74.CrossRef

17.

Yang M, Rendas-Baum R, Varon SF, Kosinski M. Validation of the headache impact test (HIT-6^TM) across episodic and chronic migraine. Cephalalgia. 2011;31(3):357–67 /pmc/articles/PMC3057423/?report=abstract.CrossRef

18.

Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW. Validation and utility of a self-report version of PRIME-MD: the PHQ primary care study. J Am Med Assoc. 1999;282(18):1737–44. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10568646/.CrossRef

19.

Islam S, Akter R, Sikder T, et al. Prevalence and Factors Associated with Depression and Anxiety Among First-Year University Students in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study. Int J Ment Health Addiction. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00242-y.

20.

Islam MS, Rahman ME, Moonajilin MS, Griffiths MD. Validation and evaluation of the psychometric properties of bangla nine-item Internet Disorder Scale–Short Form. J Addict Dis. 2020;38(4):540–549.

21.

Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JBW. The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. J Gen Intern Med. 2001;16(9):606–13.CrossRef

22.

Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, Löwe B. A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: The GAD-7. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(10):1092–7. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16717171/.CrossRef

23.

Islam MS, Ferdous MZ, Potenza MN. Panic and generalized anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic among Bangladeshi people: An online pilot survey early in the outbreak. J Affect Disord. 2020;276:30–7.CrossRef

24.

Moonajilin MS, Rahman ME, Islam MS. Relationship between overweight/obesity and mental health disorders among Bangladeshi adolescents: A cross-sectional survey. Obes Med. 2020;18:100216.CrossRef

25.

Chan YH. Biostatistics 202: logistic regression analysis. Singapore Med J. 2004;45(4):149–53.

26.

Gentile E, Delussi M, Abagnale C, Caponnetto V, De Cesaris F, Frattale I, et al. Migraine during COVID-19: Data from Second Wave Pandemic in an Italian Cohort. Brain Sci. 2021;11(4). Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33920175/

27.

Di Stefano V, Ornello R, Gagliardo A, Torrente A, Illuminato E, Caponnetto V, et al. Social distancing in chronic migraine during the covid-19 outbreak: Results from a multicenter observational study. Nutrients. 2021;13(4). Available from: /labs/pmc/articles/PMC8074143/

28.

Currò CT, Ciacciarelli A, Vitale C, Vinci ES, Toscano A, Vita G, et al. Chronic migraine in the first COVID-19 lockdown: the impact of sleep, remote, working and other life/psychological changes. Neurol Sc. 2021;42(11):4403–18 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34365547/.

29.

Seifert T, Sufrinko A, Cowan R, Scott Black W, Watson D, Edwards B, et al. Comprehensive headache experience in collegiate student-athletes: an initial report from the NCAA headache task force. Headache. 2017;57(6):877–86. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28480575/.CrossRef

30.

Birru EM, Abay Z, Abdelwuhab M, Basazn A, Sirak B, Teni FS. Management of headache and associated factors among undergraduate medicine and health science students of University of Gondar, North West Ethiopia. J Headache Pain. 2016;17:56. https://doi.org/10.1186/s10194-016-0647-4.

31.

Lebedeva ER, Kobzeva NR, Gilev D V., Olesen J. Factors Associated with Primary Headache According to Diagnosis, Sex, and Social Group. Headache. 2016;56(2):341–56. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26833220/

32.

Wang X, Sun J, Xing Y, Zhou H, Zhao Y, Zhu Y. The prevalence and awareness of migraine among university students in Harbin. China J Oral Facial Pain Headache. 2015;29(4):384–9. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26485386/.CrossRef

33.

Yu S, Liu R, Zhao G, Yang X, Qiao X, Feng J, et al. The prevalence and burden of primary headaches in China: A population-based door-to-door survey. Headache. 2012;52(4):582–91. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22590713/.CrossRef

34.

Stewart WF, Roy J, Lipton RB. Migraine prevalence, socioeconomic status, and social causation. Neurology. 2013;81(11):948–55. Available from: https://n.neurology.org/content/81/11/948.CrossRef

35.

Bigal ME, Lipton RB, Winner P, Reed ML, Diamond S, Stewart WF. Migraine in adolescents: Association with socioeconomic status and family history. Neurology. 2007;69(1):16–25. Available from: https://n.neurology.org/content/69/1/16

36.

37.

Winter AC, Berger K, Buring JE, Kurth T. Associations of socioeconomic status with migraine and non-migraine headache. Cephalalgia. 2012;32(2):159–70. Available from: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/https://doi.org/10.1177/0333102411430854

38.

Amin FM, Aristeidou S, Baraldi C, Czapinska-Ciepiela EK, Ariadni DD, Di Lenola D, et al. The association between migraine and physical exercise [Internet]. Vol. 19, The journal of headache and pain. BioMed Central; 2018 [cited 2020 Sep 22]. p. 83. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1186/s10194-018-0902-y

39.

Ahn AH. Why does increased exercise decrease migraine? Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2013;17(12):1–4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-013-0379-y.CrossRef

40.

Daenen L, Varkey E, Kellmann M, Nijs J. Exercise, Not to Exercise, or How to Exercise in Patients With Chronic Pain? Applying Science to Practice. Clin J Pain. 2015;31(2):108–14. Available from: http://journals.lww.com/00002508-201502000-00003

41.

Malkki H. Migraine: Long screen time exposure could increase the risk of migraine [Internet]. Vol. 12, Nature Reviews Neurology. Nature Publishing Group. 2016:4. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/0333102415620286

42.

Montagni I, Guichard E, Carpenet C, Tzourio C, Kurth T. Screen time exposure and reporting of headaches in young adults: A cross-sectional study. Cephalalgia. 2016;36(11):1020–7. https://doi.org/10.1177/0333102415620286.CrossRefPubMed

43.

Panconesi A. Alcohol and migraine: Trigger factor, consumption, mechanisms. A review [Internet]. Vol. 9, Journal of Headache and Pain. BioMed Central. 2008:19–27. Available from: https://thejournalofheadacheandpain.biomedcentral.com/articles/https://doi.org/10.1007/s10194-008-0006-1

44.

Rozen TD. A history of cigarette smoking is associated with the development of cranial autonomic symptoms with migraine headaches. Headache J Head Face Pain. 2011;51(1):85–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2010.01707.x.CrossRef

45.

Aamodt AH, Stovner LJ, Hagen K, Bråthen G, Zwart J. Headache prevalence related to smoking and alcohol use. The Head-HUNT study. Eur J Neurol. 2006;13(11):1233–8. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-1331.2006.01492.x.CrossRefPubMed

46.

Peres MFP, Mercante JPP, Tobo PR, Kamei H, Bigal ME. Anxiety and depression symptoms and migraine: a symptom-based approach research. J Headache Pain. 2017;18(1). Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28324317/

47.

Minen MT, De Dhaem OB, Van Diest AK, Powers S, Schwedt TJ, Lipton R, et al. Migraine and its psychiatric comorbidities. Vol. 87, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. BMJ Publishing Group. 2016:741–9. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26733600/

48.

Song TJ, Cho SJ, Kim WJ, Yang KI, Yun CH, Chu MK. Anxiety and depression in probable migraine: A population-based study. Cephalalgia. 2017;37(9):845–54. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27250234/.CrossRef

49.

Demir UF, Bozkurt O. Effects of perceived social support, depression and anxiety levels on migraine. Arch Neuropsychiatry. 2020;57(3). Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32952423/

50.

AkhtarulIslam M, Barna SD, Raihan H, NafiulAlamKhan M, TanvirHossain M. Depression and anxiety among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh: A web-based cross-sectional survey. PLoS One. 2020;15(8):e0238162. Available from: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0238162.CrossRef

51.

Khan AH, Sultana MS, Hossain S, Hasan MT, Ahmed HU, Sikder MT. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health & wellbeing among home-quarantined Bangladeshi students: A cross-sectional pilot study. J Affect Disord. 2020;277:121–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.07.135.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

52.

Safa F, Anjum A, Hossain S, Trisa TI, Alam SF, Abdur Rafi M, et al. Immediate psychological responses during the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic among Bangladeshi medical students. Child Youth Serv Rev. 2021;122:105912 /labs/pmc/articles/PMC7769705/.CrossRef

53.

Shin HE, Jeong ;, Park W, Yeong ;, Kim I, Kwang ;, et al. Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6) Scores for Migraine Patients: Their Relation to Disability as Measured from a Headache Diary. J Clin Neurol. 2008;4:158–63. Available from: www.headachetest.com/HIT6translations.html

54.

Goldstein ED, Badi MK, Klaas JP, Glover P, Rozen TD, Huang JF, et al. A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Migraine-Related Disability in CADASIL: A Mayo Clinic Cohort. Neurologist. 2019;24(6):161–4. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31688705/

55.

Alemayehu Ayele B, Mamushet Yifru Y. Migraine-related disability and co-morbid depression among migraineurs in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-018-1095-3

56.

Yang M, Rendas-Baum R, Varon SF, Kosinski M. Validation of the Headache Impact Test (HIT-6^TM) across episodic and chronic migraine. Cephalalgia. 2011;31(3):357–67. https://doi.org/10.1177/0333102410379890.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Title: Prevalence and impact of migraine among university students in Bangladesh: findings from a cross-sectional survey
Authors: Abdur Rafi
Saiful Islam
M. Tasdik Hasan
Golam Hossain
Publication date: 01-12-2022
Publisher: BioMed Central
Keywords: Migraine
Headache
Published in: BMC Neurology / Issue 1/2022
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2377
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-022-02594-5

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Prevalence and impact of migraine among university students in Bangladesh: findings from a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2022

Reproducible asystole following vagal nerve stimulator lead replacement: a case report

Quantitative indices for an intracranial aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage in early childhood: a case report

Familial multiple sclerosis in patients with Von Hippel-Lindau disease

Combined conventional speech therapy and functional electrical stimulation in acute stroke patients with dyphagia: a randomized controlled trial

Association between gout and the development of Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Nomogram to predict hemorrhagic transformation for acute ischemic stroke in Western China: a retrospective analysis