Gender-based difference in quality of life of Migraine sufferers: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: To assess gender-based differences in quality of life among individuals with migraines.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, that took place at the Ibn-e-Seena Hospital and Fazaia Ruth Pfau Medical College and its affiliated teaching hospital of Karachi, from Aug 2023 to Jan 2024, in which a total of 200 patients enrolled who met the ICHD-3 proposed migraine criteria through convenient sampling. Every individual was administered the MIDAS (Migraine Disability Assessment Questionnaire) questionnaire to estimate the effects of migraines on their routine activity SPSS 22 version was used for data feeding and analysis. The results of qualitative/categorical variables were given in numbers and percentages and for quantitative variables in Mean ± S.D. A statistically significant. p- value was considered as <0.05

Results: 200 participants who were enrolled in this study were with an average age of 22.7±8.62 years with 65.5% being female. Among the participants, the majority (40.5%) fell into the 15-24 years of age, followed by 32% in the 25-34 years of age group. Among the participants, a MIDAS Grade score of 0–5, was achieved by 4 males and two females, indicating minimal to no disability. A MIDAS Grade score of 6–10 was achieved by 16 males and 34 females, indicating mild disability. Out of those with a MIDAS Grade score of 11–20, 29 and 51 were male and female respectively, signifying a moderate level of disability. A score of 21 or higher in MIDAS Grade, was scored by 20 males and 43 females, reflecting a more severe degree of disability. Overall data shows that disability scores get worse after 35 years of age.

Conclusion: It was concluded that females were more prone to suffer from migraine as compared to males. Migraines can indeed affect the quality of life irrespective of gender, although, males show in- creased disability with increasing age.