Menstrual-Cycle and Menstruation Disorders in Episodic vs Chronic Migraine: An Exploratory Study.
OBJECTIVE
Migraine is a chronic condition of recurring moderate-to-severe headaches that affects an estimated 6% of men and 18% of women. The highest prevalence is in those 18-49 years of age, generally when women menstruate. It is divided into episodic and chronic migraine depending on the total number of headache days per month being 14 or less or 15 or more, respectively. Migraine has been associated with menorrhagia, dysmenorrhea, and endometriosis, the latter particularly in chronic migraine.


METHODS
We conducted a questionnaire survey of 96 women with migraine, 18-45 years old, to determine the occurrence of the menstrual-cycle disorders, oligomenorrhea, polymenorrhea, and irregular cycle, and the menstruation disorders, dysmenorrhea and menorrhagia, in episodic vs chronic migraine.


RESULTS
The prevalence of menstrual-cycle disorders in general (41.2 vs 22.2%) and dysmenorrhea (51.0 vs 28.9%) was statistically significantly higher in the women with chronic migraine than in those with episodic migraine (P ≤ 0.05) (not corrected for multiple comparisons). Whether the migraine was menstruation sensitive, that is, the headaches consistently occurred or worsened with menstruation, did not impact the prevalence of menstrual disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that chronic migraine is possibly more often than episodic migraine associated with menstrual-cycle disorders in general and dysmenorrhea, without impact on menstruation sensitivity of the headaches.
Division of Craniofacial Pain, Headache, and Sleep, Department of Oral Pathology, Oral Medicine, and Craniofacial Pain, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Headache & Face Pain Program, Department of Neurology, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Egilius L H
EL
Spierings
Division of Craniofacial Pain, Headache, and Sleep, Department of Oral Pathology, Oral Medicine, and Craniofacial Pain, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Aliya
A
Padamsee
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D004412:Dysmenorrhea / Q000523:psychology; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008595:Menorrhagia / Q000523:psychology; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology*; D008599:Menstruation Disturbances / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D009839:Oligomenorrhea / Q000523:psychology; D015995:Prevalence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
Chronic Migraine; Dysmenorrhea; Episodic Migraine; Hypothyroidism; Irregular Cycle; Menorrhagia; Menstrual Disorders; Menstruation; Menstruation-Sensitive Migraine; Migraine; Oligomenorrhea; Polymenorrhea