To the Editor: Recent studies link smartphone use with migraine among young adults [1]. This descriptive study was designed to determine the prevalence of gadget addiction among children with migraine when compared with their healthy counterparts. The study was conducted between August and October 2020. The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee and a written informed consent was obtained from parents. Typically developing children aged 5–15 y diagnosed with migraine (by trained pediatric neurologist) as per the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICDH-3B) (n = 30) were enrolled in the study. Children who attended outpatient services for other minor respiratory or gastrointestinal ailments served as the controls (n = 30). In both the groups, children with access to at least one smartphone at their home were enrolled in the study.

Internet addiction was determined using Internet Addiction Test (IAT) [2]. Social media and gaming addictions were determined using Social Media Addiction Scale (SMAS) [3] and Gaming Addiction Scale (GAS) [4]. The duration of screen time exposure on television and gaming was recorded. The scores on IAT, SMAS, GAS and duration of screen time exposure were compared between the cases and controls using Student's t-test. The internet addiction score was significantly higher among the children with migraine when compared with controls [33.47 (15.5) vs. 22.73 (14.68); p = 0.008]. However, social media addiction scores were comparable between the cases and controls [48.66 (22.29) vs. 43.63 (17.41); p = 0.34]. The duration of time spent on gaming [0.71 (0.57) vs. 0.57 (0.37); p = 0.32] and television [1.43 (1.16) vs. 1.03 (0.96); p = 0.15] were comparable. Children with migraine showed longer duration spent on smartphone [1.77 (1.38) vs. 1.03 (1.12); p = 0.03].

The present cross-sectional study with limited sample size revealed that children with migraine had higher score of internet addiction and spent more time on smartphones when compared with their healthy counterparts.