[Epidemiologic survey of migraine in six cities of China]

A door-to-door survey was carried out in six cities of China. A total of 63,195 individuals were sampled during 1983 to determine the prevalence of major neurological disorders including migraine. The survey involved a complete census, together with a pretested interview and brief screening examination with a high level of sensitivity for detecting individuals with migraine. All those with responses suggestive of severe headaches were requested to be examined by a senior neurologist using defined clinical criteria to establish the final diagnosis. Based on 396 prevalent cases of migraine, the crude and age-adjusted (to the 1960) total population of the United States point prevalence rate were 6.3 per 1000, and 5.4 per 1000 respectively. The prevalence among the females was nearly 3.5 times the figure for the males. For individuals above the age of 40, the age-specific prevalence rate declined with increasing age. The survey was followed by a case-control pairs matched by age, sex and geographic regions. A family history with "similar headache" seemed to be a significant risk factor while smoking and alcohol consumption appeared to be other relevant factors associated with the occurrence of migraine were also investigated. It seemed to the authors that the most frequently associated factors were psychological and hormonal factors.