The impact of migraine on school performance

Diagnosing and managing migraine in children and young people

This article gives an overview of migraine in children. It outlines the epidemiology of the condition and describes presentation with headache and other symptoms and linked conditions. It aims to raise awareness of the diagnosis of migraine and its impact on children and young people, their families and school life. The author also describes methods of diagnosis and management, and the importance of recognising and of avoiding medication overuse.

Sleep health, messaging, headaches, and academic performance in high school students

AIM

We tested for associations of bedtime, sleep duration, instant messaging, and chronic headaches with hypersomnolence and academic performance in a sample of high school students in New Jersey, USA.

METHODS

Students were surveyed anonymously and asked to report their sleep and messaging habits, headache status, and overall grades.

RESULTS

We found that greater hypersomnolence was associated with later bedtimes, shorter sleep durations, and the presence of chronic headaches, but not with messaging after lights out. Also, we found that academic performance was lower in students who messaged after lights out, but it was not affected by headache status, bedtime, or sleep duration.

CONCLUSIONS

These results are consistent with other studies that have demonstrated associations between headaches and hypersomnolence and between instant messaging habits and academic performance. They also add to a growing literature on the relationships among use of electronic devices, sleep health, and academic performance by adolescents.

Pediatric migraine prescription patterns at a large academic hospital

BACKGROUND

Here we report the prescription patterns by drug type, age, and sex of patients at a large academic pediatric hospital. Because there are few guidelines based on outcome studies in pediatric migraine, physician treatment approaches in children vary.

METHODS

Using the i2b2 query tool, we determined that over an approximately 4 year period, 4839 patients between the ages of 2 and 17 years were observed at Boston Children's Hospital for migraine with or without aura, 59% women and 41% men.

RESULTS

The most common medications prescribed to this population were sumatriptan, amitriptyline, topiramate, ondansetron, and cyproheptadine.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings support recent data regarding choices of medication in the pediatric population and additionally support current studies and future investigation into controlled trials in the pediatric population.