MIGRAINE HEADACHES IN ADOLESCENTS - A STUDENT POPULATION-BASED STUDY IN MONREALE

We assessed the prevalence of migraine headaches in an epidemiological survey of an 11 to 14-year-old student population. Migraine headaches were classified on the basis of questionnaires and neurological exami nation using the operational diagnostic criteria of the International Headache Society. Prevalence of migraine without aura (IHS code 1.1) w as 2.35%; that of migraine with aura (IHS code 1.2) was 0.62%. Migrain e without aura was equally distributed among males and females, wherea s migraine with aura was preponderant in the female cohort. The preval ence of migraine headaches in males was constant through the ages stud ied, whereas the prevalence of migraine headaches in females reached a peak at age 12 and plateaued over the following two years. Although t he new IHS classification criteria of migraines are reliable and exhau stive, some subcriteria may not be valid in a juvenile population. For instance, the duration of the pain in young migraineurs is often brie fer than in adults, and the intensity of pain was almost always descri bed as moderate or severe. Therefore, in order to increase the reliabi lity and comprehensiveness of the IHS classification, minor modificati ons should be made.