MSQ: Migraine-Specific Quality-of-Life Questionnaire. Further investigation of the factor structure

MSQ, the 16-item Migraine-Specific Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (Version 1.0), was developed by Glaxo Wellcome Inc. to assess the effect of migraine and its treatment on patients' health-related quality of life (HR-QOL). The MSQ was hypothesised to measure 3 meaningful dimensions: (i) Role Function-Restrictive; (ii) Role Function-Preventive; and (iii) Emotional Function. The objective of this research was to further investigate the number of dimensions as well as the items contained in each dimension through principal components factor analysis of clinical trial data. Secondary objectives were to determine whether the factor structure changed in post-treatment visits compared with screening visits, to make recommendations for coding the MSQ when the patient did not have a migraine in the previous 4 weeks, and to modify the MSQ if so indicated by this research. Results supported the existence of 3 distinct factors which agreed strongly with the hypothesised dimensions. The analysis of post-treatment data suggested that the underlying factor structure of the MSQ varies as a result of treatment. Based on evaluations of the 'did not have a migraine' response, it was concluded that it be dropped from the MSQ. All these changes have been incorporated into MSQ (Version 2.0) which is being evaluated in studies to determine if its psychometric properties are different than the properties of the previous version.