Background and aims
Lock down caused lifestyle changes and represented an impact on human health. Environmental factors can trigger migraine headache. We aimed to report the triggers of migraine attacks due to lifestyle changes during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown.
Methods
This cross-sectional survey included patients diagnosed as migraine according to The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition (ICDH-3). During the lockdown, we submitted an online self-reported web-based questionnaire to patients already diagnosed with migraine and attends headache clinic at Ibn Sina Hospital in Kuwait. Questions explored triggers of migraine headache attacks during COVID-19 Pandemic lockdown. Answers were transformed into data for statistical analysis.
Results
A total of 340 migraine patients responded to questionnaire. The mean age of them is 34.65 years. Females were predominant 79.1%. Majority of the cohort 85% has more than one trigger of migraine attack. The commonest triggers were smell of strong odors in 214 (62.9%), followed by certain food in 175 (51.8%), sleep disturbance in 120 (35.3%), Emotional or mental stress in 80 (23.6%), caffeine in 80 (23.6%), flickers of Light in 78 (22.9), weather changes in 68(20%), smoking in 65 (19.12), noise in 56 (16.5), sun light exposure in 41 (12.1), Fasting/ Hypoglycemia in 40 (11.7), hormonal changes in 37 (10.6%), physical excretion/fatigue in 24 (7.1), screen exposure in 20 (5.9%), and dehydration in 14 (4.1%).
Conclusions
Lifestyle changes during lock down may negatively impact migraine through patients exposure to many triggers. Strong odors, food, sleep disturbance and stress were the most migraine triggers during COVID-19 lockdown.