English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Primary headache especially migraine ranks among the top 20 causes of the disease burden as per the years lived with disability (YLD) criteria.1 Stress due to many factors during the COVID-19 pandemic can worsen the migraine symptoms and reduce the therapeutic response.2,3 In this study, we aimed to investigate this impact on migraine frequency and severity on medical care, in addition to overall psychosocial health and specific COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019) concerns among migraine patients. METHODS A questionnaire based telephonic survey was used to collect details about the impact of COVID-19 on patients with migraine who visited our outpatient clinic from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2019. Telephonic interview was carried out by the investigators from July 5th to August 15th of 2021. RESULTS A total of 320 patients participated in the survey. Women constituted 79.7% of the study population and, 39.7% were between 40-60 years while 34.1% were between 20-40 years of age. In comparison to the pre-pandemic period, 56.9% of patients reported increase in the severity of migraine and 55.9% reported increase in the number of headache-days. Difficulties in accessing headache medications was reported by 73.4% and, 75.3% were not able to follow their medication schedule. Only 57.2% were able to access specialist care during the pandemic. Overuse of analgesics was reported by 15.9% of participants in the pre-pandemic period, while it increased to 37.8% after the pandemic. Sleep disturbances, anxiety and depression were reported by 47.2% and increase in screen-time exposure was mentioned by 41.9%. CONCLUSIONS COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significantly negative impact on patients with migraine. Well planned strategies should be implemented to ensure availability of quality care for patients with migraine, with emphasis on psychosocial well-being. KEY WORDS COVID-19, Migraine, Primary Headache.