Objective:

This study aims to determine the prevalence of poor sleep quality in migraine headache patients, and explore the correlation between migraine characteristics and sleep quality.

Background:

Studies have demonstrated a higher prevalence of poor sleep quality in patients with migraines. A bidirectional relationship exists between sleep disturbances and migraines, where headaches exacerbate sleep disturbances, while poor sleep quality may also trigger headaches and contribute to migraine chronification. This study seeks to evaluate the relationship between migraine headache features and sleep quality in a cohort of Puerto Rican patients.

Design/Methods:

We use an ongoing prospective observational study using data and questionnaires collected from patients with diagnosis of episodic or chronic migraine. Recorded data includes demographic information, migraine characteristics, and responses from three validated questionnaires: Generalized Anxiety Index (GAD-7), the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).

Results:

A trend of higher PSQI score was seen in patients with moderate to severe migraine severity (18/25), as well as in patients with higher frequency per month (10/25). This data was independent of the GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scores. In addition, all patients were known to have preventive migraine treatment, which may contribute to stability in migraine frequency and severity. Data collection is ongoing, as we currently recruited 25 out of 50 total participants to this study.

Conclusions:

Poor sleep quality has been reported in patients with worsened migraine features. In our study, an increase in PSQI scores was seen in patients with higher migraine frequency and severity. These associations may occur despite use of preventive treatment, and independent of concomitant conditions such as depression or anxiety. Further studies are needed to explore the relationship between sleep quality and migraine features.