Epilepsy and Migraine Among Adolescents and Adults in Northern Benin

To study relationship between migraine and epilepsy in adolescents and adults in northern Benin in 2018, a cross-sectional study with control group was conducted at Parakou in Benin. Cases were people with epilepsy (PWE) according to ILAE (International League Against Epilepsy) definition and followed at the Neurology Department of the Teaching Hospital of Borgou. Each case was matched to three controls (population-based controls) on age, sex and living area. Migraine was defined according to the ICHD-3 beta criteria of 2013. Conditional logistic regression models were used for associations. Thirty cases and ninety controls were included. The mean age was 32 ± 15 years for the cases and 32 ± 15 years for the controls with a sex-ratio (M/W) of 1.45. Migraine frequency in PWE was 63.33% and 17.78% in controls. After adjustment there were 8 times more migraine headaches in PWE than in controls (OR = 8.53; CI 95%: 2.6-28.0; P < 0.001).Epilepsy is associated with an increased frequency of migraine headaches.