Migraine Woes
Adolescents suffering from migraine headaches are more likely to get poor grades and less likely to finish high school or go to college than those who don’t get the headaches, a new study has concluded.
Researchers studying the statistical impact of migraine headache and academic performance presented their findings at the 84th Annual Conference of the Western Economic Association International in Vancouver, British Columbia recently. The researchers analyzed data on sibling pairs from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health as well as reports from parents identifying siblings in the same household with different experiences of migraine – ruling out the possibility that socioeconomic factors could affect migraine headache and academic performance.
Migraine headache was associated with 5% lower GPAs, a 5% less chance of graduating from high school and a 15% less chance of attending college, the study found. “We know that migraine headaches can profoundly impact quality of life. Our study offers evidence that they are an important obstacle to long-term academic success,” said Joseph Sabia, professor of public policy at American University’s School of Public Affairs and one of the authors of the study. “Our results show that migraine sufferers have trouble attending school and have trouble concentrating on the days they do make it to school.”
Absences from school, difficulty paying attention in class, and difficulty completing homework were attributed to 30-40% of the reduction in academic performance. Sufferers of typical headaches or tension headaches showed no difference in academic performance, the researchers noted.
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