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Comorbidity of migraine and epilepsy in a Norwegian community
Author(s) -
Brodtkorb E.,
Bakken I. J.,
Sjaastad O.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2008.02353.x
Subject(s) - migraine , epilepsy , aura , medicine , comorbidity , migraine with aura , psychiatry , norwegian , population , epidemiology , pediatrics , linguistics , philosophy , environmental health
Background and purpose: Studies on the comorbidity of migraine and epilepsy have shown conflicting results. We wanted to explore the epidemiological association between migraine and seizure disorders in a population‐based material where case ascertainment was enhanced by individual specialist assessments. Methods: Information concerning migraine and seizure disorders was collected from 1793 participants in an interview‐based survey in a circumscribed community. Mixed headache, with features both of migraine without aura and tension‐type headache, was excluded from further analyses because of its ambiguous character ( n = 137). Thus, data from 1656 participants were included in the study. Results: The number of subjects with epilepsy was small, and a statistically significant association between migraine and the diagnosis of epilepsy was not found. There was a tendency to more active epilepsy in subjects with migraine (1.0%, 5/524), particularly for migraine with aura (1.8%, 3/168), compared with subjects without migraine (0.5%, 6/1132). Migraine was present in five of 11 subjects with active epilepsy (45%) and in four of 28 (14%) with epilepsy in remission ( P = 0.09). Conclusions: An overall association between migraine and seizure disorders could not be demonstrated, but there was a tendency to more migraine in individuals with active epilepsy.