Prevalence of Migraine among Medical Students of King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences

BACKGROUND Headache disorders have been underestimated, under treated, and under-recognized by health care providers. Migraine is episodic brain disorder characterized by attacks of a pulsating headache that varies in intensity. Due to the lack of studies aimed at Saudi medical students and the lifestyle they lead, which consist of multiple stressors and irregular sleep patterns that can put them at high risk. We believe it is very important to investigate the prevalence of migraine and its association with deferent trigging factors. AIM& OBJECTIVE This study aims to determine the prevalence of migraine among all medical students of all academic years, both genders in King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences and its association with deferent trigging factors in the Academic year 2016-2017. METHODS A cross-sectional observational study using a validated and reliable test, the quick screening tool ID Migraine. By using Raosoft website, the sample size calculated was 270 with confidence level of 95 % and 5 % margin of error. This sample was distributed amongst the study population using quota sampling based on the percentage of the students in respective years. For participants selection, convenience sampling was used. RESULTS Migraine was identified in 23.7 % of students using ID-Migraine. Migraine prevalence in females was significantly higher (34.1 %) compared to males (18.6 %) p less than 0.00. Migraine prevalence was found highest in the fifth grade (28.1 %) and followed by the third grade (20.3 %). Stress (31.2 %) irregular sleep (23.4 %) Not eating (21.8 %) were the most common triggers according to students. CONCLUSIONS Medical students in King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences showed a higher prevalence of migraine than other studies, with increased in frequency and severity in female students compared to male students.