Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of migraine, alexithymia, and post-traumatic stress disorder among medical students at Cumhuriyet University of Sivas in Turkey. A total of 250 medical students participated in this study and answered the questionnaires. The study was conducted in three stages: the self-questionnaire, the neurological evaluation, and the psychiatric evaluation. In the first stage, the subjects completed a questionnaire to assess migraine symptoms and completed the three-item Identification of Migraine Questionnaire, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version Scale. The subjects who reported having a migraine underwent a detailed neurological evaluation conducted by a neurologist to confirm the diagnosis. In the final stage, the subjects with a migraine completed a psychiatric examination using the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV-R Axis I. The actual prevalence of migraine among these medical students was 12.6 %. The students with a migraine were diagnosed with alexithymia and post-traumatic stress disorder more frequently than those without migraine. The Migraine Disability Assessment Scale scores correlated with the post-traumatic stress disorder scores. The results of this study indicate that migraine was highly prevalent among medical students in Turkey and was associated with the alexithymic personality trait and comorbid psychiatric disorders including post-traumatic stress disorder. Treatment strategies must be developed to manage these comorbidities.
Highlights
Migraine and tension-type headache are the most common primary headache types
The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of migraine, alexithymia, and post-traumatic stress disorder among medical students at Cumhuriyet University of Sivas in Turkey
Researchers have reported that anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and alexithymia are more frequently reported in adults with migraine [11,12,13,14,15,16]
Summary
Migraine and tension-type headache are the most common primary headache types. Migraine is a neurologic disorder that represents a significant health problem due to the frequency and accompanying morbidity that includes disability and loss of performance [1,2,3]. Migraine has a lifetime prevalence of 12–18 %, which has been shown to be both age and gender dependent in community-based studies worldwide [4]. The lifetime prevalence of migraine in Turkey was found to be 10.9 % in men and 21.8 % in women in a nationwide epidemiological study [5]. A higher percentage of migraine headache have been reported in women; female hormones may be a factor responsible for the sex difference. Previous studies have demonstrated an association between migraine and specific psychiatric disorders in the general population. The association between migraine and depression is the most widely reported, there are strong associations between migraine and other psychiatric disorders and conditions [6,7,8,9,10]. Researchers have reported that anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and alexithymia are more frequently reported in adults with migraine [11,12,13,14,15,16]
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