Headache-related Disability Among Individuals with and without Migraine Aura

Author

Delora DenneyFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-1-2021

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

General Studies

First Advisor

Todd Smitherman

Second Advisor

Aaron Lee

Third Advisor

Andrew Hales

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

Migraine is a neurological disease marked by recurrent headache and migraine attacks. Migraine is one of the most common diseases in the world, and as a result of high prevalence and symptoms, migraine is also quite disabling. One-third of people who have migraine experience aura, and these individuals have a greater risk for stroke, psychiatric comorbidities, and suicide attempts. The present study aimed to evaluate if there was a difference in headache-related disability between those who have migraine with and without aura, and any headache or psychiatric factors that may account for observed difference in disability.

The present study is an observational study of daily diary data from the N1-Headache™ App. We compared daily reports of headache-related disability between those with and without aura, before and after accounting for potential differences in headache symptoms and psychiatric variables. An omnibus comparison of mean disability across all attacks yielded a statistically significant difference between groups (M aura = 1.40 [1.08] vs 1.08 [1.00], p < .001). However, a more conservative analysis of disability differences using only the first attack found no statistically significant difference in disability between attacks with and without aura (M = 1.30 [1.08] vs 1.21 [1.01], p = .28). Subsequent ANCOVA confirmed this null result after controlling for headache and psychiatric covariates.

Recommended Citation

Denney, Delora, "Headache-related Disability Among Individuals with and without Migraine Aura" (2021). Honors Theses. 1650.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/1650

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