• Cephalalgia · Aug 2015

    Gender influences headache characteristics with increasing age in migraine patients.

    • Hayrunnisa Bolay, Aynur Ozge, Petek Saginc, Gulhan Orekici, Derya Uludüz, Osman Yalın, Aksel Siva, Şebnem Bıçakçi, Başak Karakurum, and Musa Öztürk.
    • Department of Neurology and Algology, Gazi University School of Medicine, Turkey Neuropsychiatry Centre, Gazi University School of Medicine, Turkey hbolay@gazi.edu.tr aynurozge@gmail.com.
    • Cephalalgia. 2015 Aug 1; 35 (9): 792-800.

    Background And AimsMigraine headache is one of the most common primary headache disorders and is three times more prevalent in women than in men, especially during the reproductive ages. The neurobiological basis of the female dominance has been partly established. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of gender on the headache manifestations in migraine patients.MethodsThe study group consisted of 2082 adult patients from five different hospitals' tertiary care-based headache clinics. The relationship between headache characteristics and gender was evaluated in migraine with aura (MwA) and migraine without aura (MwoA). The duration, severity, frequency of headache and associated symptoms were evaluated in both genders and age-dependent variations and analyzed in two subgroups.ResultsWomen with migraine were prone to significantly longer duration and intensity of headache attacks. Nausea, phonophobia and photophobia were more prevalent in women. Median headache duration was also longer in women than in men in MwA (p = 0.013) and MwoA (p < 0.001). Median headache intensity was higher in women than in men in MwA (p = 0.010) and MwoA (p = 0.009). The frequency of nausea was significantly higher in women than in men in MwA (p = 0.049). Throbbing headache quality and associated features (nausea, photophobia, and phonophobia) were significantly more frequent in women than in men in MwoA. The gender impact varied across age groups and significant changes were seen in female migraineurs after age 30. No age-dependent variation was observed in male migraineurs.ConclusionGender has an influence on the characteristics of the headache as well as on the associated symptoms in migraine patients, and this impact varies across the age groups, particularly in women.© International Headache Society 2014.

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