Physical practice is associated with less functional disability in medical students with migraine

The aim of this study was to investigate possible association between migraine and physical practice among 480 medical students who were submitted to a questionnaire about headaches and physical practices. Migraine diagnosis was assessed by ID-Migraine and functional disability was evaluated with MIDAS. The type (aerobic or strength training), the weekly frequency and the intensity of physical practice and body mass index (BMI) were assessed. There was a reduction in functional disability of migraine in students reporting physical practice (no physical practice - MIDAS=8.81±1.40, physical practice - MIDAS=15.49±1.78; P=0.03). Frequency, intensity, and type of physical practices were not associated with functional impact of migraine. BMI did not correlate with migraine impact (normal weight - MIDAS=12.34±1.33, overweight or obese - MIDAS=17.45±3.86; P=0.33). These results were confirmed by multivariate analysis. Our data suggest that physical practice is inversely related with functional disability of migraine in university students regardless of BMI.