Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Are doctors accurate when diagnosing themselves with migraine? A study on migraine prevalence among doctors in a tertiary care hospital

  • Original article
  • Published:
Acta Neurologica Belgica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Migraine is considered an underdiagnosed disease in general population. Different studies show a higher prevalence in neurologists. However, there are few studies about its prevalence in doctors of other specialties, where it could also be superior than in general population. Our aim was to define migraine lifetime prevalence among doctors according to three parameters (previous diagnosis, self-diagnosis and positivity of a screening test). Single-center, descriptive, cross-sectional study based on online surveys with collection of sociodemographic and clinical variables, addressed to doctors of a tertiary hospital. Participants who reported 5 or more headaches throughout their lives were considered “headache sufferers” and were divided in different groups according to their position (specialists or trainees) and their specialty (medical, medical-surgical and surgical or specialties with no direct contact with the patient). The Spanish validated version of the Migraine Screen Questionnaire (MS-Q) was used as screening test. There were 217 participants (response rate of 29%), 72% were women and 56% trainees, mean age 34 years (SD10). 77% were “headache sufferers” Among all participants, migraine lifetime prevalence according to diagnosis by another physician was 15.2%, self-diagnosis 38.2% and positivity of the MS-Q 20.3%; those categories were not mutually exclusive Greater but not statistically significant coexistence of self-diagnosis and positive MS-Q was seen in specialists compared to trainees and in medical specialties. Migraine prevalence among doctors in a tertiary care hospital was higher than in general population, according to all three parameters analyzed. Self-diagnosis was the highest which could reflect an overdiagnosis; further studies are needed to determine this possibility.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. GBD 2015 Disease and Injury Incidence and Prevalence Collaborators (2016) Global, regional and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 310 diseases and injuries, 1990–2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015. Lancet 388(10053):1545–1602

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Steiner TJ, Stovner LJ, Birbeck GL (2013) Migraine: the seventh disabler. Cephalalgia 33(5):289–290

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Headache Classification Committee of the International Headache Society (IHS) (2018) The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition. Cephalalgia 38(1):1–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Stewart WF, Lipton RB, Celentano DD et al (1992) Prevalence of migraine headache in the United States. Relation to age, income, race, and other sociodemographic factors. JAMA 267(1):64–69

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Honkasalo M, Kaprio J, Heikkilä K et al (1993) A population-based survey of headache and migraine in 22,809 adults. Headache 33(8):403–412

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Roy R, Sánchez-Rodríguez E, Galán S et al (2019) Factors associated with migraine in the general population of Spain: results from the European Health Survey 2014. Pain Med 20(3):555–563

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Lipton RB, Diamond S, Reed M et al (2001) Migraine diagnosis and treatment: results from the American migraine study II. Headache 41(7):638–645

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Lipton RB, Dodick D, Sadovsky R et al (2003) A self-administered screener for migraine in primary care the ID Migraine TM validation study. Neurology 61(3):375–382

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Láinez MJA, Domínguez M, Rejas J et al (2005) Development and validation of the Migraine Screen Questionnaire (MS-Q). Headache 45(10):1328–1338

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Viana M, Khaliq F, Zecca C et al (2020) Poor patient awareness and frequent misdiagnosis of migraine: findings from a large transcontinental cohort. Eur J Neurol 27(3):536–541

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Lipton RB, Scher AI, Kolodner K et al (2002) Migraine in the United States: epidemiology and patterns of health care use. Neurology 58(6):885–894

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Brockmann N, Evers S (2010) Migraine in neurologists and headache specialists. Headache 50(1):138–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Alstadhaug KB, Hernandez A, Næss H et al (2012) Migraine among Norwegian neurologists. Headache 52(9):1369–1376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Lu SR, Wang SJ, Fuh JL (2006) The practice pattern of migraine management among neurologists in Taiwan. Cephalalgia 26(3):310–313

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Yeh WZ, Blizzard L, Taylor BV (2018) What is the actual prevalence of migraine? Brain behav 8(6):e00950. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.950

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Hettiarachchi J, Lipton RB, Dodick D et al (2012) A self administered screener for migraine in primary care. Neurology 61(3):375–382

    Google Scholar 

  17. Evans RW, Evans RE, Kell HJ (2010) A survey of family doctors on the likeability of migraine and other common diseases and their prevalence of migraine. Cephalalgia 30(5):620–623

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Waters WE (1975) Migraine in general practitioners. Brit J prev soc med 29:48–52

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Dalsgaard-Nielsen T, Ulrich J (1973) Prevalence and heredity of migraine and migrainoid headaches among 461 Danish doctors. Headache 12(4):168–172

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Bigal ME, Liberman JN, Lipton RB (2006) Age-dependent prevalence and clinical features of migraine. Neurology 67(2):246–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Edmeads J, Findlay H, Tugwell P et al (1992) Impact of migraine and tension-type headache on life-style, consulting behaviour, and medication use: a Canadian Population Survey. Can J Neurol Sci 20(2):131–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Viticchi G, Falsetti L, Pettinari P et al (2014) Headache in a population of hospital workers. Neurol Sci 35(Suppl 1):157–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Bekkelund SI, Salvesen R (2006) Is uncertain diagnosis a more frequent reason for referring migraine patients to neurologist than other headache syndromes? Eur J Neurol 13(12):1370–1373

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Bartolini M, Viticchi G, Falsetti L et al (2014) Migraine in health workers: working in a hospital can be considered an advantage? Neurol Sci 35:27–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Hansen LC, Gaul C, Pogatzki-Zahn E, Baron R, Gierthmühlen J (2020) Do doctors treat themselves differently than their patients? Study on the self-treatment of migraine among German neurologists and pain specialists. Cephalalgia 40(8):788–796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Evers S, Brockmann N, Summ O et al (2020) Primary headache and migraine in headache specialists—does personal history of doctors matter? Cephalalgia 40(1):96–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Bordini CA, Bigal ME (2006) Migraine in the Elderly: a comparison with migraine in young adults. Headache 46(2):312–316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Wijeratne T, Tang M (2009) Prevalence of migraine in the elderly: a narrated review. Neuroepidemiology 52(1–2):104–110

    Google Scholar 

  29. Starling AJ (2018) Diagnosis and management of headache in older adults. Mayo Clin Proc 93(2):252–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Wang X, Zhou HB, Sun JM et al (2016) The prevalence of migraine in university students: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Neurol 23(3):464–475

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the doctors who agreed to participate in our study.

Funding

The authors did not receive support from any organization for the submitted work.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Ines Muro

    Present address: , Madrid, Spain

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, La Princesa University Hospital, Madrid, Spain

    Ines Muro, Ana Beatriz Gago-Veiga, Jose Vivancos & Sonia Quintas

  2. La Princesa Health Investigation Institute, Madrid, Spain

    Ines Muro, Ana Beatriz Gago-Veiga, Jose Vivancos & Sonia Quintas

  3. Autonoma University, Madrid, Spain

    Ines Muro, Ana Beatriz Gago-Veiga, Jose Vivancos & Sonia Quintas

  4. Methodology Unit, La Princesa Health Investigation Institute, Madrid, Spain

    Lorena Vega-Piris

  5. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, La Princesa University Hospital, Madrid, Spain

    Miguel Ruiz

Authors
  1. Ines Muro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ana Beatriz Gago-Veiga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jose Vivancos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lorena Vega-Piris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Miguel Ruiz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Sonia Quintas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Study concept and design: Sonia Quintas and Inés Muro. Analysis and interpretation of data: Lorena Vega, Inés Muro and Sonia Quintas. Drafting of the manuscript: Inés Muro. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Sonia Quintas, Ana Beatriz Gago-Veiga and Jose Vivancos. Statistical analysis: Lorena Vega and Miguel Ruiz. Study supervision: Sonia Quintas, Ana Beatriz Gago-Veiga and Jose Vivancos.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ines Muro.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Ethics approval

The study was approved by the Ethics Committee and hospital’s Medical Direction on April 4th 2019 (reference number 3718).

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 16 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Muro, I., Gago-Veiga, A.B., Vivancos, J. et al. Are doctors accurate when diagnosing themselves with migraine? A study on migraine prevalence among doctors in a tertiary care hospital. Acta Neurol Belg 121, 1045–1051 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-021-01727-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-021-01727-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation