Comprehensive Assessment of The Relative Frequency of Sleep Disorders in Migraine and Non Migraine in 6- To 14-Year-Old Children

Objective Headaches are common during childhood. In addition, sleep disorders are common problems in children, too. Although it is commonly thought that headache and sleep problems are related, there is not enough evidence to confirm this relationship. Finding evident relations between these problems would help practitioners a lot to make earlier diagnosis and plan treatment modalities for both problems as soon as possible. This study aimed to assess the relative frequency of sleep disorders in migraine and non migraine children. Material & Methods In a cross sectional study, 148 children were enrolled in migraine (60) and non migraine (88) groups. They were aged 6 to 14 years. Migraine group consisted of patients who had definite migraine according to IHS (International Headache Society) criteria. Ten sleep problems (snoring, nightmares, sleep walking, sleep talking, bedtime struggle, bruxism, sweating during sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness, insomnia in early or mid night and sleep apnea) were compared between 2 groups. Fisher exact and chi square tests were used for making comparisons. Results We found relationships between night sleep and daytime headaches. Some of these relationships were easy to explain but for some others, finding complicated explanations are necessary. Our findings showed that bruxism, sleep walking, early and midnight insomnia was significantly higher in migraine children. There was a common etiology for headache and sleep disorders. Also, parents and migraine children were well familiar with the effect of relaxation on decreasing migraine episodes .They provided appropriate facilities for night sleep for this reason. Conclusion we found relationships between night sleep and daytime headaches. Some of these relationships were easy to explain but for some others, finding complicated explanations are necessary.