Migraine and academic performance among medical students

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the frequency of migraine and analyze its influence on the academic performance of students between 2nd and 9th period of the Barbacena Medicine College. Methods: From a cross-sectional study, samples of 336 students were examined. They answered a questionnaire constructed specially for the occasion, in which migraine was diagnosed and its repercussions were analyzed. Results: Among 336 analyzed students, 43 (12.8%) had migraine, while 293 (87.2%) didn't evidence it. Absences from school activities are more frequent in the migraine group (85.0%) than (69.0%) in non-migraine. 49.0% of those who had migraine were absent from physical activities and 29.0% missed social gatherings. In contrast, in the group without migraine 50.0% missed physical activities and 15.0% weren't at social gatherings. In the evaluation of school performance through additional or special tests, the study showed that 26.0% of migraine did the tests in the first period while this rate was 12.0% in those without migraine. Conclusions: The frequency of migraine is approximately 13.0%. We conclude that there is a strong relationship between migraine and academic performance; it's evident that students with migraine seem prone to low yield, shown by the number of additional tests and school absence and loss of social activities.