Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 29, 2026
3D-Neuronavigation In Vivo Through a Patient's Brain During a Spontaneous Migraine Headache
Published on: June 2, 2014
Validation of the web-based LUMINA questionnaire for recruiting large cohorts of migraineurs
W P J van Oosterhout1, C M Weller, A H Stam
1Leiden University, The Netherlands.
Objective:
To assess validity of a self-administered web-based migraine-questionnaire in diagnosing migraine aura for the use of epidemiological and genetic studies.
Methods:
Self-reported migraineurs enrolled via the LUMINA website and completed a web-based questionnaire on headache and aura symptoms, after fulfilling screening criteria. Diagnoses were calculated using an algorithm based on the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-2), and semi-structured telephone-interviews were performed for final diagnoses. Logistic regression generated a prediction rule for aura. Algorithm-based diagnoses and predicted diagnoses were subsequently compared to the interview-derived diagnoses.
Results:
In 1 year, we recruited 2397 migraineurs, of which 1067 were included in the validation. A seven-question subset provided higher sensitivity (86% vs. 45%), slightly lower specificity (75% vs. 95%), and similar positive predictive value (86% vs. 88%) in assessing aura when comparing with the ICHD-2-based algorithm.
Conclusions:
This questionnaire is accurate and reliable in diagnosing migraine aura among self-reported migraineurs and enables detection of more aura cases with low false-positive rate.
