Headache characteristics and clinical features of elderly migraine patients

While migraine is a common disease, its prevalence tends to decrease with age. It is usually reported that migraine characteristics are different in older subjects. Hence it is a challenge to identify and treat this category of patients. Therefore, the present study confirmed the association between migraine frequency and age of onset and also reported high incidence of probable medication overuse headache in elderly patients.

The study aimed to examine the headache and clinical features of aged migraine individuals at a tertiary headache centre.

A total of 239 migraineurs over 64 years old, from 2006 to 2015 based on the Marseille registry at Timone Hospital were reviewed retrospectively.

The thirty-three patients out of 239 presented with migraine with aura only and thirty-one showed both the diagnosis. Out of the thirty-three migraine with aura patients, 32 displayed aura without headache. One hundred and twenty patients exhibited the throbbing type of pain and 140 presented unilateral pain. Further, the phono- and photophobia were found in 190 and 185 migraineurs. The medication overuse was seen among a total of 79 patients; 56 overused combined medications and 25 overused triptans. The patients whose age at onset of migraine was younger than 18 years showed higher frequencies of migraine and the later onset group showed a low-frequency migraine.

As per the study findings, the age of onset is an essential factor in determining the clinical profile of these patients.