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.