Papers of the Week

The objective of this study was to assess the burden of disease and prevalence of lifestyle factors for adolescents and young adults with frequent episodic migraine. We conducted a secondary comparative analysis of data collected during two previous studies. Inclusion criteria for this analysis were age 15-35 years, 15 to 44 migraine episodes within 12 weeks, and completeness of Migraine Disability Assessment and lifestyle questionnaire data. Datasets of 37 adults (median age [interquartile range]: 25 [6]) and 27 adolescents (median age [interquartile range]: 15 [1]) were analyzed. 81% ( = 30) of adults reported severe disability (16% [ = 3] of adolescents; < 0.001). Headache frequency (24 vs. 17 days; = 0.005) and prevalence of regular analgesic use (60% [ = 22] vs. 18% [ = 5]; = 0.002) were significantly higher in adults. In adults, sleep duration on weekdays was significantly lower (8.5 vs. 10 h; < 0.001). Any consumption of caffeine tended to be higher in adolescents and alcohol consumption tended to be higher in adults ( > 0.05). This study underlines the importance of educating adolescents and young adults with migraine about lifestyle habits that are likely to interfere with the condition.