Migraine is a
common neurological disorder, prevalent in almost all over the world population
and being considered as the 13th major medical disorder among other
major disorders across the globe, generally characterized with unilateral or
bilateral headache, nausea and vomiting. In developing world, countries like
Pakistan, most of the patients are not well aware of migraine headaches, as
usually taken for simple headache due to no proper awareness. Usually it is not
a contagious condition and most of the time it is recoded as episodic in
nature. To assess the migraine, its frequency, symptoms, usual triggers and
patients’ perceptions, the present study was conducted. For this purpose a prospective
study was carried out based on properly designed questionnaire. The data were
collected from 7 educational institutes, including students of Islamia College
Peshawar, University of Peshawar, Khyber Medical College, Engineering
University Peshawar, Fatima Jinnah College Peshawar, Commerce College Peshawar
and Agriculture University Peshawar. Part of data was also collected from
patients visiting Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar for their headache
problems. A total of 270 questionnaires were filled up. About 81 (30.00%)
headache cases were recorded, fulfilling the International criteria of
Headache. Out of 81 recorded cases, 31 (38.3%) patients were of migraine with
aura and 50 (61.7%) were of migraine without aura condition. The prevalence of
migraine in the study population was found to be 30.00%. The frequency of
female migraine patients was higher i.e.
31 (34.1%) than the male sufferers 50 (27.9%). The present study clearly showed
that the higher frequency (65.0%) of migraine exists in the age group of above
30 years age. The most prevalent trigger was found to be tension, which was in
parallel followed by the lack of sleep or oversleeping. A family history for
migraine was found in migraine patients. Usually the condition was found to
limit the routine activities of patients. The present study recorded that most
of the migraine patients (40.2%) did not visit doctors at hospital and
preferably go for self-medication, which really needs a public awareness in
order to properly cope this neurological disorder, which may pose future
medical complications as well.