Epidemiology of migraine among students in Mali

- Students participating were 69.7% (511/733) male and 30.3% (222/733) female.
- First degree family history of headaches was very common in students with migraine (78% total with 57% on the maternal side and 17% on the paternal side).
- About two thirds of patients that suffer of migraine report their attacks to be triggered by specific external circumstances or internal variation, the remaining third felt that their attacks occur suddenly without apparent reason.

Migraine is a debilitating but benign disease that can affect the quality of life of patients, disrupt the emotional relationships and impact on educational and vocational activities. The aim of our work was to study the epidemiology and impact of migraine in schools in the urban district of GAO in Mali.This is a cross-sectional study among students in the city of Gao. The survey was conducted in 11 schools, each of which represented a cluster. The study involved 733 students and diagnosis of migraine was made according to the 2004 IHS criteria except the criterion for the number of crises.The overall prevalence of migraine in school was 17.3% (95% CI [14.6% to 20%]). The headache prevalence among students was 20% (95% CI [16.91% to 23.09]), it was significantly higher 23.0% in girls than in boys 14.8% (p < 0.01). About its impact on school life, 63.8% of students had experienced absenteeism due to migraine from 1 to 14 days in the last quarter preceding the survey with a limiting concentration in 19.2% of students with migraine.In conclusion, migraine is common among students of Gao, it is more important in female. It has a negative impact on academic performance. It is therefore necessary to control its management to reduce the extent of the disease in this environment.