Sensory Hypersensitivity Symptoms in Migraine With vs Without Aura: Results From the American Registry for Migraine Research.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Migraine with aura (MwA) is associated with increased brain hyper-responsiveness to visual stimuli and increased visual network connectivity relative to migraine without aura (MwoA). Despite this, prior studies have provided conflicting results regarding whether MwA is associated with higher photophobia symptom scores compared to MwoA. The relationships between MwA and other types of sensory hypersensitivity, such as phonophobia and cutaneous allodynia (CA), have not been previously investigated. The purpose of this cross-sectional observational study was to investigate whether MwA is associated with greater symptoms of photophobia, phonophobia, and CA compared to MwoA.

METHODS

This analysis included 321 migraine patients (146 MwA; 175 MwoA) who had been enrolled into the American Registry for Migraine Research. The diagnosis of either MwoA or MwA was determined by headache specialists using ICHD diagnostic criteria. Patients completed the Photosensitivity Assessment Questionnaire, the Hyperacusis Questionnaire, and the Allodynia Symptom Checklist. Mean or median values were compared between groups. Regression models were created to analyze the relationship between MwA with photophobia scores, hyperacusis scores, and the presence of interictal CA.

RESULTS

Those with MwA had higher mean photophobia scores than those with MwoA (4.1 vs 3.0, P = .0003). MwA was positively associated with photophobia symptom severity (B = 0.50 [SE = 0.14], P = .0003), after controlling for age, patient sex, and headache frequency. Aura was not associated with hyperacusis symptom severity (B = 0.07 [SE = 0.08], P = .346) or the presence of interictal CA (OR 1.33 [95% CI 0.70-2.53], P = .381).

CONCLUSION

MwA is associated with higher photophobia symptom scores compared to MwoA. Aura is not associated with greater hyperacusis or interictal allodynia scores. These findings complement prior imaging and neurophysiologic studies that demonstrated MwA to be associated with hyper-responsiveness of brain visual processing regions. The findings suggest that MwA is associated specifically with visual hypersensitivity, as opposed to being associated with a general hypersensitivity to multiple types of sensory stimuli.