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Childhood migraine in general practice: clinical features and characteristics
1Sherwood House, Smethwick, Warley, West Midlands, UK.
Insights
This study surveyed 1,083 children in British general practice, finding migraine attacks can start in infancy. Migrainous children often have mothers with migraine, and some symptoms vary with age.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Epidemiology
- General Practice Research
Background:
- Previous research on childhood migraine focused on hospital clinics.
- Community-based prevalence and characteristics data for young children (3-11 years) in British general practice were lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the prevalence and clinical characteristics of migraine in children aged 3-11 years within a British general practice setting.
- To compare findings with existing hospital-based studies.
Main Methods:
- A community-based survey involving interviews with 1,083 children and their parents, selected from a general practice registry.
- Extended interviews for suspected migraine sufferers to detail patient and attack characteristics.
Main Results:
- Migraine attacks were found to initiate in infancy.
- A maternal history of migraine was more common in children with migraine.
- Certain clinical features demonstrated age-dependency.
- Lower attack frequency was observed compared to hospital studies, while aura prevalence was similar.
Conclusions:
- Childhood migraine is present in the general community, with early onset and familial links.
- Age influences migraine presentation in children.
- Community studies offer a different perspective on migraine frequency compared to clinical settings.
Abstract:
Previous studies have evaluated the clinical features and characteristics of migraine in selected children attending hospital clinics. There have, however, been no community studies on the prevalence and characteristics of migraine in children aged 3-11 years in British general practice. In this study, a total of 1,083 children (from 1,104 registered with a general practice) and their parents were interviewed. Possible migraine sufferers took part in an extended interview that assessed various characteristics of the patients and their attacks. The survey showed that migraine attacks started in infancy, and migrainous children were more likely to have mothers with migraine. Some clinical features were found to be age-dependent. Compared with similar hospital surveys there was a lower frequency of attacks recorded but the prevalence of aura was similar to that found in previous studies.