Proceedings of the 25th BCTRIMS Annual Meeting

INTRODUCTION: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating autoimmune disease with a significant impact on patients’ functionality. Apart from the accumulation of demyelinating lesions, MS is also associated with several comorbidities, among which migraine, the focus of this study, deserves attention due to its high prevalence and impact on quality of life. 

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of migraine in persons with MS (PwMS), and its associations with variables of interest among patients with and without migraine.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study included PwMS prospectively evaluated in clinical routine for the presence of comorbidities, including migraine. After identifying migraine diagnosis, we made statistical associations with demographic variables, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), SymptoMScreen and the impact in daily routine through the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29) and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS).

RESULTS: 204 PwMS were included (78.4% females, mean/SD age of 38.8/10.7 years, median EDSS score was 2.0). The prevalence of migraine was 27.9% (n=57). By comparing PwMS with and without migraine, we identified: age 38.8 vs 38.8 years (p=0.273); female patients 91.2% vs 73.5% (p=0.006) median EDSS 2.0 vs 2.0 (p=0.966); median SymptoMScreen scale 16 vs 12 (p=0.503); median Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) 8 vs 7  (p=0.351) and 7 vs 5 (p=0.587); median FSS score 47 vs 40 (p=0.543); median MSIS-29 67 vs 65 (p=0.897).

CONCLUSION: Overall, the clinical features between patients with and without migraine did not vary significantly in our study. Higher sample sizes, longitudinal designs and more detailed variables (such as the moment of headaches onset, need for medical leave, prophylaxis or intravenous analgesia, migraine frequency and intensity) could show different findings.