Discussion
This study has been conducted among adolescents and adults registered to
different faculties of medical campus at Khartoum University, Khartoum,
Sudan. ID Migraine™ test has been used for screening migraine type
headaches.ID Migraine™ check showed that, 2.9% (n 109) of the 3814
students had hemicrania sort headache. The prevalence of migraine is
reported to be the highest in females rather than males.However it is
also six times more among adults and university students, a significant
difference between adolescent and adult populations. There are few
studies focusing on migraine among university students in Sudan showing
differences in prevalence. Halay reported a prevalence of 40% of those
who had at least two headache episodes. Females were more affected by
migraine than males and the most common triggering factors were
irregular/lack of sleep, stress/anxiety, noise, and fatigue/physical
activity, which accounted for 91.0 percent, 88.0 percent, 85.7 percent,
and 84.6 percent of the population with migraine, respectively.
Menstruation-related migraines were reported by 46.7 percent of females.
The impact of migraine on work, everyday activities, and leisure was
mild to extreme for 78.2% of migraine sufferers{2} ,but in this study
21.1% of the participants were triggered by “emotional stress or
anxiety”, 23.9% of the participants were triggered by “eating
habits”, 24.8% of the participants were triggered by “fasting”,
64.2% of the participants were triggered by irregular sleep, 33.9% of
the participants were triggered by “physical activity”,39.5% of
participants were triggered by “menstruation”,58.7% of the
participants were triggered by “noise”,36.7% of the participants were
triggered by” tests or exams”,48.6% of the participants were
triggered by “reading hours (when you are studying for example)”,2.8%
of the participants were triggered by “smoking”, and 71.6% of the
participants were triggered by “exposure to sun”. In some
international studies for example in Nigeria One thousand six hundred
and seventy-nine students aged 11-18 years were recruited. The overall
prevalence of headache was 19.5%, compared to my study which of 3814
about 2.9% but the same in that prevalence rate is more in females
compared to males {14}. Several studies throughout the world show
different results. The prevalence of migraine among university students
is reported to be, 27.9% in a Kuwaitian study, 9.0% in a Chinese study
among 5,129 students. 7.2% in a Turkish study among 3694 students {11,
10, 13}. We found the prevalence of migraine headaches relatively lower
than Sudanese and also international studies. Our relatively large
number of subjects will affect the results. Since the screening test is
based on the presence or absence of headaches in the past three months,
the duration of the study may also be a limiting factor, which varies
from study to study. A study conducted in more stressful periods like
midterms or final examinations would have revealed a higher prevalence
of migraine headaches. In addition, the method used to determine the
prevalence of migraine can significantly affect the prevalence, which
explains the differences observed in epidemiological studies. The
female/male ratio was (7:1) (95/14) in our study, whereas in other study
in Israel was 1.25:1 in Haifa which mean that our study ration was very
high {12}.A new finding is that most of the students in this group
continued to attend classes despite their headaches. This is a typical
feature of other studies that reported the same situation, but their
attention was reduced, which had a negative impact on their research.
Changes in sleep patterns during headache attacks make tests and
examinations worse. Sleep disturbances have previously been reported to
influence the frequency and duration of migraines {15}.
Although attending meetings frequently, the learning model was
disrupted: most people were unable to study, many continued to learn
from drugs, some dropped out of school due to headaches, and some
continued to study without taking drugs. This can have a negative impact
on test results and success rates due to wasted time, especially since
those who continue the research report increased pain intensity during
exercise. In addition, the frequency and intensity of headaches
increased during the test and examination. It is related to the stress
that students experience during their studies; students who drink
caffeine and energy drinks while studying may stay awake longer.
Although the level of energy drink intake during study periods was not
calculated in this study, students should be warned about the negative
consequences of drinking significant amounts of these beverages.
Headache severity assessment was showing that majority of them were
having moderate headache, this is common as well as in previous studies.