Pediatric Chronic Migraine Severity and Maternal Stress.

Daniela Smirni,Marco Carotenuto

doi:10.3390/pediatric13040068

Daniela Smirni, Marco Carotenuto

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/pediatric13040068

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Abstract

Primary headache is an increasing phenomenon in pediatric age, and very often, it causes disabling limitations in children’s daily activities, negatively affecting family well-being. There are conflicting data in the literature on the impact of children’s migraines on parental experienced stress. This study aimed to evaluate maternal stress in a sample of school-aged children with a migraine without aura (MwoA) and its correlation with migraine intensity and frequency. A total of 474 mothers aged between 31 and 55 participated in the study: 237 were mothers of children with MwoA, and 237 were mothers of typical developing children. All participants were administered the Parent Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) for the assessment of parental stress; the Pediatric Migraine Disability Assessment (PedMIDAS) was administered to children with MwoA to assess the presence of a related disability migraine. The results showed a significantly higher rate of stress in mothers of MwoA children (p < 0.001) in all the domains explored by the PSI-SF and a statistically significant correlation between the maternal stress total score and the intensity and frequency of migraine attacks (p < 0.0001). This study highlights the need for the holistic contribution of the family to be considered in the clinical management of pediatric migraines.

Highlights

A migraine is the most common cephalic pain in the developmental age [1], with the overall prevalence estimated to be about 9.1% [2]
Disability Assessment (PedMIDAS) was administered to children with migraine without aura (MwoA) to assess the presence of a related disability migraine
MwoA children (p < 0.001) in all the domains explored by the Parent Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) and a statistically significant correlation between the maternal stress total score and the intensity and frequency of migraine attacks (p < 0.0001)

Summary

Introduction

A migraine is the most common cephalic pain in the developmental age [1], with the overall prevalence estimated to be about 9.1% (95% CI: 7.1–11.1) [2]. Chronic migraine is a disabling neurological disease with its relevant impact on quality of life negatively related to pain severity [3]. In the developmental age, chronic migraine seems to often be associated with psychiatric, neurological and cardiac comorbidities [5]; learning impairment [6] and sleep problems [7,8,9,10]. Barone et al and Operto et al found no difference in the parenting stress of children with or without primary headaches [12,13]

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