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OBJECTIVE:To determine whether individuals in a population-based sample of migraine sufferers experience attacks that vary in intensity and in degree of disability, and to correlate any variability with age, sex, attack frequency and physician-consulting behaviour.DESIGN:Telephone interviews of randomly selected, population-based sample.PARTICIPANTS:Men and women, aged 15 years and older, with headaches conforming to modified International Headache Society diagnostic criteria for migraine.METHODS:Sample selected by modified random digit dialling method, with call-backs. A total of 20,565 calls identified 341 migraine sufferers who were interviewed by trained interviewers from a survey research organization using a computer-assisted system.DATA ANALYSIS:Descriptive, with differences between proportions of groups tested by c2.RESULTS:Eighty-nine per cent of all migraine suffers had experienced two or three levels of severity in their migraine attacks as assessed by debilitation.CONCLUSIONS:Most migraine sufferers experience frequent variation in attack severity, a finding that has implications for the prescribing of appropriate treatment. |
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