Genizi Jacob, Samet Hila, Zaitoon Hussein, Elimelech Uriel, Kerem Nogah C, Kessel Aharon, Shalata Adel, Nathan Keren, Engel-Yeger Batya
Pediatric Department, Bnai Zion Medical Center, Haifa 3104802, Israel.
Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3109601, Israel.
Life (Basel). 2025 Mar 23;15(4):528. doi: 10.3390/life15040528.
We aimed to compare executive functions (EF), anxiety, social participation, and quality of life (QoL) between children with migraine and healthy controls during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to examine these parameters in children in each group who did vs. did not contract COVID-19.
A prospective cohort study was carried out. The patient group comprised children seen in our pediatric neurology clinic for migraine, and the control group was composed of aged-matched healthy children with no neurological findings or developmental disorders. The participants' parents completed a health and demographic questionnaire, the BRIEF (child/adolescent version), the PedsQL, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC), and the CASP. The participants or their parents furnished information on whether the participant had contracted COVID-19.
A total of 84 children and adolescents aged 6-17.5 (mean of 12.8) participated in the study, including 33 with migraine (17 boys, 16 girls) and 51 healthy controls (28 boys, 23 girls). The children with migraine showed significantly lower EF due to reduced behavioral regulation, higher trait anxiety, and lower physical, emotional, and school-related QoL. Reduced EF correlated with the intensity of migraine attacks, higher anxiety, reduced social participation, and reduced QoL. Lower social participation correlated with reduced QoL and predicted emotional and social QoL. The BRIEF metacognition scale predicted school-related QoL. Healthy children who contracted COVID-19 showed significantly lower EF than children with migraine in the inhibition (56.66 ± 10.56 vs. 45.71 ± 7.12, = 0.013) and initiation (60.01 ± 11.89 vs. 46.01 ± 6.54, = 0.005) BRIEF scales, and in the general metacognition index (65.83 ± 14.48 vs. 46.75 ± 9.19, = 0.003). Healthy children who contracted COVID-19 had significantly worse initiation and working memory compared to those who did not contract COVID-19 (initiation: 60.01 ± 11.89 vs. 46.81 ± 8.89, = 0.007), working memory: 61.16 ± 15.48 vs. 47.21 ± 11.06, = 0.021).
Migraine has a significant negative impact on executive functions in children and adolescents, greater than contracting COVID-19. Executive dysfunction influences patients' emotional state, participation in social activities, and quality of life. The COVID-19 pandemic had a less deleterious effect on migraine patients compared to the healthy control group. Further research on pediatric migraine is warranted.
我们旨在比较新冠疫情期间偏头痛患儿与健康对照组儿童的执行功能（EF）、焦虑、社会参与度和生活质量（QoL），并在每组中对比感染新冠病毒与未感染新冠病毒的儿童的这些参数。
开展了一项前瞻性队列研究。患者组包括在我们儿科神经科门诊就诊的偏头痛患儿，对照组由年龄匹配、无神经学发现或发育障碍的健康儿童组成。参与者的父母完成了一份健康和人口统计学问卷、BRIEF（儿童/青少年版）、儿童生活质量量表（PedsQL）、儿童状态-特质焦虑量表（STAIC）和儿童青少年应对量表（CASP）。参与者或其父母提供了有关参与者是否感染新冠病毒的信息。
共有84名6至17.5岁（平均12.8岁）的儿童和青少年参与了研究，其中33名患有偏头痛（17名男孩，16名女孩），51名健康对照（28名男孩，23名女孩）。偏头痛患儿因行为调节能力下降，表现出明显较低的执行功能，特质焦虑较高，身体、情感及与学校相关的生活质量较低。执行功能降低与偏头痛发作强度、更高的焦虑、社会参与度降低和生活质量降低相关。社会参与度降低与生活质量降低相关，并可预测情感和社会生活质量。BRIEF元认知量表可预测与学校相关的生活质量。感染新冠病毒的健康儿童在BRIEF量表的抑制（56.66±10.56对45.71±7.12，P = 0.013）和启动（60.01±11.89对46.01±6.54，P = 0.005）方面，以及在总体元认知指数（65.83±14.48对46.75±9.19，P = 0.003）方面，显示出比偏头痛患儿显著更低的执行功能。与未感染新冠病毒的健康儿童相比，感染新冠病毒的健康儿童在启动和工作记忆方面明显更差（启动：60.01±11.89对46.81±8.89，P = 0.007），工作记忆：61.16±15.48对47.21±11.06，P = 0.021）。
偏头痛对儿童和青少年的执行功能有显著负面影响，大于感染新冠病毒。执行功能障碍会影响患者的情绪状态、参与社会活动的能力和生活质量。与健康对照组相比，新冠疫情对偏头痛患者的有害影响较小。有必要对儿童偏头痛进行进一步研究。
