Association between eating behavior and lifestyle habits and increase in migraine attacks in university students during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused changes in the population's lifestyle and dietary patterns, important triggers for migraine crises. Objective: Evaluating the association between eating behavior and lifestyle habits and the increase of migraine attacks in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective study carried out with university students from Salvador, Bahia, between December/2020 and June/2021. The university students were invited by Whatsapp® and institutional email and then directed to the free and informed consent form and questionnaire, filled through the research management application. This research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee under evaluation report 4.351.573. Data were analyzed by descriptive analysis. Results: Sample of 83 individuals, 89,2% women, 45,8% sedentary, 51,8% gained weight recently, 73,4% have low water intake, 59% have difficulty to conciliate and 50,6% have difficult to maintain the sleep. Before the pandemic, 7,3% reported 7-14 days of migraine per month and, after, increased to 24,1%. 36,1% of students associated food with migraine attacks, the main triggers are: coffee (20,5%), chocolate (14,5%), sausages (12%), alcohol (9,6%) and sugar (6%). The increase in migraine days was associated with difficulty in maintaining sleep (p < 0.002). Conclusion: Despite the statistically significant result only between difficulty to conciliate the sleep and greater frequency of migraine, changes in lifestyle and eating behavior caused by the COVID-19 pandemic also seem to imply in increase in days with migraine in university students.