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Frequency of Migraine Headaches in Patients With Fibromyalgia

Vij B, Whipple MO, Tepper SJ, Mohabbat AB, Stillman M, Vincent A

Headache, 2015

3,717 participants

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency of migraine headache in a large cohort of patients with fibromyalgia using a brief migraine headache-screening tool.

BACKGROUND: Several studies report a high prevalence of fibromyalgia among patients with migraine headaches, but there is a dearth of research evaluating the frequency of migraine headaches in patients with fibromyalgia, despite clinical observations suggesting that migraine headaches are common in patients with fibromyalgia.

DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional survey study. Patients (N = 3717) with a previous diagnosis of fibromyalgia who were members of the Mayo Clinic Fibromyalgia Registry were contacted by electronic survey and asked to complete a brief demographic and medical history questionnaire and the validated ID-Migraine screener.

RESULTS: A total of 1730 patients (46.5%) completed the electronic survey. The majority of participants were white (97.2%), female (92.5%), with a mean age of 56.2 (±13.1) years. Of the respondents, 966 (55.8%) met criteria for migraine headaches. Hypertension (309 [32.3%] vs. 294 [40.1%], P = .004), asthma (312 [32.5%] vs. 189 [25.9%], P = .011), irritable bowel syndrome (520 [54.6%] vs. 348 [47.6], P = .017), chronic fatigue syndrome (486 [50.7%] vs. 271 [37.1], P < .0001), depression (634 [66.5%] vs. 413 [56.7%], P = .0002), anxiety (415 [43.5%] vs. 252 [34.7%], P = .0011), and post-traumatic stress disorder (172 [18.0%] vs. 96 [13.2%], P =…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause. Reported size: 3,717 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

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