Population-based study of vestibular symptoms in migraineurs

Abstract

Conclusion: The differences between migraineurs with vertigo or motion sickness or both, and migraineurs with neither might reflect differences in migraine pathophysiology. Objective: To assess vestibular symptoms in 871 definite migraineurs. Methods: Data were gathered using a structured questionnaire. We considered responses to only 2/150 questions: (1) ‘have you had vertigo with or apart from your headaches?’ and (2) ‘have you experienced motion sickness most of your life?’. The target groups were: (a) migraineurs with either vertigo or motion sickness, ‘migraine with vestibular symptoms’ (MwVS), their control group being migraineurs with neither vertigo nor motion sickness, ‘migraine without vestibular symptoms’ (MwoVS); (b) migraineurs who reported vertigo, ‘migraine with vertigo’ (MwV); their control group being migraineurs without vertigo (MwoV). Results: Among the 871 definite migraineurs, 534 had MwV, 337 had MwoV, 663 had MwVS, and 208 had MwoVS. The MwVS group had more headache, aura, nausea, vomiting, osmophobia, allergy, allodynia, headache increasing with head motion, noise as trigger for headache, days needing analgesics, and higher migraine disability scores than the MwoVS group. The pattern was the same in the MwV vertigo group as in the MwVS group, apart from migraine disability scores, which were no different.

Keywords:

• Vertigo
• headache
• migraine
• motion sickness

Note added in proof

Since out article was accepted for publication Murdin et al showed that some migraineurs have increased susceptibility to motion sickness induced by off-vertical axis rotation. (Murdin L, Chamberlain F, Cheema S, Arshad Q, Gresty MA, Golding JF, Bronstein A. Motion sickness in migraine and vestibular disorders. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2014 Aug 11 Epub ahead of print)

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by an unrestricted grant from the İbrahim Ethem Ulagay-Menarini Group. We thank Ayşe Emel Önal MD for the statistical assistance. This paper was presented at the World Congress of Neurology in 2013 and the Barany Society Meeting in 2014 in platform sessions.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.