The Use Of The Midas Questionnaire To Assess Migraine And Tension Type Headache In Adolescents

Abstract

Objective: Headache is the most common type of pain that children and adolescents complain as well as being the most common neurological symptom. Among all school-age children, 15-20% experience headache and 3-5% of these are migraine. To determine the grade of disability caused by migraine, a specific scale, the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) questionnaire has been developed. Our objective was to gain information about the evaluation of different types of headaches in adolescents by using the Turkish version of the MIDAS, and to investigate its reliability for differentiation of migraine and tension type headaches. Material and Methods: Eighty two adolescents between the ages of 10 and 16 years were asked questions about the characteristics of their headaches and then the MIDAS questionnaire was administered. The type of headache was then determined according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders Criteria-II (ICHD-II). Results: In 45 patients (54.9%) tension type, in 20 patients (24.4%) migraine, in 10 patients (12.2%) psychogenic type and in seven (8.5%) patients a mixed or nonspecific headache was found. It was found that patients with tension type headaches were more likely to have a grade 1score (48.9%) whereas migraine type headache was more common in grade 4 (45%). Conclusion: We believe that modification of the MIDAS questionnaire to meet the needs of adolescent patients will help in the differentiation between different types of headaches.