• Nathan da Silva Xavier, Mariana Tedeschi Benatto, Lidiane Lima Florencio, César Fernández-de-Las-Peñas, Fabiola Dach, and Débora Bevilaqua-Grossi.
• Department of Health Sciences, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto-SP, Brazil.
• Pain Med. 2021 Dec 11; 22 (12): 3021-3029.

ObjectiveTo evaluate gender differences in clinical characteristics of migraine by examining presence and severity of cutaneous allodynia, migraine-related disability, neck pain and its associated disability, passive mobility of the upper cervical spine, and performance of the deep neck flexor muscles.DesignCross-sectional study.Subjects30 men and 30 women with migraine.MethodsParticipants responded to the questionnaires Migraine Disability Assessment questionnaire, 12-item Allodynia Symptom Checklist, and Neck Disability Index. The mobility of the upper cervical spine was assessed by using the Flexion-Rotation Test. Performance of the deep neck flexor muscles was evaluated by applying the Craniocervical Flexion Test. Comparison of the groups was carried out by using the Student's t-test or the χ2 test. The prevalence ratio was also calculated.ResultsWomen showed a higher prevalence of cutaneous allodynia (P = .001) and a 4 times greater risk of having severe cutaneous allodynia than to men (P = 0.007). No gender differences were observed in migraine-related disability (P = .08). Women showed higher prevalence of self-reported neck pain (P = .03) and increased risk of having this symptom in comparison to men (Prevalence Ratio = 1.69; P = 0.025). However, there were no gender differences in neck pain-related disability (P = .25), mobility of the upper cervical spine (P = .92), or performance of the deep neck flexor muscles (P = .52).ConclusionWomen with migraine had a higher frequency of self-reported neck pain and higher prevalence and severity of cutaneous allodynia when compared to men. However, the two groups did not differ regarding neck pain-related disability and performance in the physical tests.© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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