Translation and Transcultural Validation of Migraine Screening Questionnaire (MS-Q)

Between 30 to 59% of patients with migraine without aura are undiagnosed and improperly treated, because primary care physicians are either too busy or unfamiliar with criteria for diagnosing migraine.

The aim of our study was to translate the Migraine Screen Questionnaire (MS-Q) to BHS (Bosnian/Croatian /Serbian) language and to test reliability and validity of the translation on a sample of primary care patients.

The study was designed as cross-sectional, multi centric, diagnostic accuracy trial of an instrument for screening patients who visit general practitioners, with an aim to reveal migraine without aura. The instrument was the MS-Q, originally written in English and validated in Spanish population, and in this study being translated to BHS language.

Translation of the MS-Q to BHS language showed good diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity 80.0% and specificity 87.2%) and reliability (Cohen kappa 0.648) for migraine without aura, with significant screening yield among previously undiagnosed patients of 72.7%. The study also confirmed high percentage of patients with hidden MWA (52.9%) revealed by the MS-Q and ICH criteria that would otherwise remain undiagnosed.

The MS-Q translation to BHS language could be considered as valid and reliable clinical instrument for revealing migraine without aura, similar by its performance to original questionnaire. It has considerable screening yield, discovering majority of patients with previously undiagnosed migraine without aura, whose definite diagnosis should later on be confirmed by the attending physicians using the ICH criteria.