Frequency of Migraine among Medical Students in Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran 2016

Headache is one of the most common medical complaints and migraine is one of its major causes. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of migraine in medical students in Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences. This cross-sectional descriptive research was carried out in 400 medical students in Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran 2016, who were selected by random sampling. Data were collected using a self-administered standard questionnaire according to International Headache Society (IHS). SPSS V16 was used to analyze the data. The subjects included 58% females and 72.5% of the participants were single, 75.5% were in clinical education program and 51.7% lived in university accommodation. The prevalence of migraine was 10.3% (12.34% in females and 7.27% in males. Among the subjects 39% had migraine aura. Unilateral and pulsatile headache (P=0.000), headache accompanied by nausea and vomiting (P=0.000), photophobia (P=0.000) and phonophobia (P=0.035) were more prevalent in those with migraines; whereas vague headache was more common in students suffering from non-migraine headaches. Most of the migraine headaches were both moderate and severe (80.5%) but non-migraine headaches were mostly mild (56.3%) (P=0.000). Positive family history (P=0.028), referral to physicians (P=0.000), and taking analgesics (P=0.035) were more common in migraines. The incidence of migraine in this study was similar to that reported by other studies. Most of the migraine attacks were moderate and severe and required medical intervention. So, it is important to focus more on this condition and control the exacerbating factors, especially in medical students.