Chronic migraine: a prospective descriptive clinical study in a headache center population

This study describes the pain characteristics of the chronic migraine, including duration, intensity, quality, aggravation by activity, associated features in a headache clinic. One hundred twenty-one chronic migraine patients were evaluated. A total of 79% patients were female, and the mean age was 43.6 years, ranging from 19.0 to 54.2 years. The pain characteristics were predominantly unilateral; either side attacks (43.8%), strictly left-side (19%), or right side (19%). Headache character was reported as throbbing (67%), aching (14%), stabbing (10%), and pressure (9%). Of the associated autonomic features, lacrimation was the most common. Photophobia (83.5%) and phonophobia (72.7%) often were noted. When compared, only previous headache diagnosis, headache character and onset of headache were found to be statistically different between female and male patients (P < 0.05).