Participants were asked on the baseline questionnaire: “Have you ever had migraine headaches?” and “In the past year, have you had migraine headaches?” From this information, we categorized women into “any history of migraine;” “active migraine,” which includes women with self-reported migraine during the past year; and “prior migraine,” which includes women who reported ever having had a migraine but none in the year prior to completing the questionnaire. Participants who reported active migraine were asked details about their migraine attacks. In a previous study of the WHS (5 (link)), we have shown good agreement with modified 1988 International Headache Society (IHS) criteria for migraine (ICHD-I) (3 ).
The detailed migraine-specific questionnaire contained questions addressing age at migraine onset, physician diagnosis of migraine, family history of migraine, details about migraine attacks, and medication used. Questions about migraine characteristics allowed us to classify women according to the revised 2004 IHS criteria for migraine (ICHD-II) (4 (link)). In particular, women were asked about the frequency of attacks during the past year (daily, weekly, every other week, monthly) – criterion A; usual duration of migraines during the past year (<4 hours, 4–24 hours, 25–48 hours, 49–72 hours, >72 hours) – criterion B; usual location of migraines (unilateral or behind one eye, front of head, back of head, whole head) – criterion C1; usual character of migraines (pounding, pulsating, crushing, sharp, aching, burning) – criterion C2; usual severity of migraines during the past year (light, moderate, severe) – criterion C3; if migraines were triggered or made worse by any physical activity (yes, no) – criterion C4; nausea and/or vomiting (never, sometimes, always) – criterion D1; light sensitivity (never, sometimes, always) – criterion D2; sensitivity to sound (never, sometimes, always) – criterion D2.
The detailed migraine-specific questionnaire contained questions addressing age at migraine onset, physician diagnosis of migraine, family history of migraine, details about migraine attacks, and medication used. Questions about migraine characteristics allowed us to classify women according to the revised 2004 IHS criteria for migraine (ICHD-II) (4 (link)). In particular, women were asked about the frequency of attacks during the past year (daily, weekly, every other week, monthly) – criterion A; usual duration of migraines during the past year (<4 hours, 4–24 hours, 25–48 hours, 49–72 hours, >72 hours) – criterion B; usual location of migraines (unilateral or behind one eye, front of head, back of head, whole head) – criterion C1; usual character of migraines (pounding, pulsating, crushing, sharp, aching, burning) – criterion C2; usual severity of migraines during the past year (light, moderate, severe) – criterion C3; if migraines were triggered or made worse by any physical activity (yes, no) – criterion C4; nausea and/or vomiting (never, sometimes, always) – criterion D1; light sensitivity (never, sometimes, always) – criterion D2; sensitivity to sound (never, sometimes, always) – criterion D2.
