Migraine prevalence and clinical features in Hong Kong Chinese women: findings from the MECH-HK Study

Background: Longitudinal migraine features among the Chinese population are limited.
Objectives: This study aims to elucidate the migraine prevalence and longitudinal migraine features in Hong Kong Chinese women.
Methods: This study used the longitudinal data of 4221 women (mean age 54.4±9.8) from an ongoing cohort named ‘MECH-HK’ (Migraine Exposures and Cardiovascular Health in Hong Kong Chinese Women). The recruitment was conducted from Oct 2019 to Dec 2020. Migraine diagnosis followed the International Classification of Headache Disorders-3 criteria. Migraine features were longitudinally tracked using a migraine diary and summarised by clinical metrics.
Results: The overall migraine prevalence was 10.3% (436/4221). By December 2023, participants with migraine provided 7,867 diary reports over a 48-month follow-up period. The participants with migraines were generally younger (51.8 years vs. 54.7 years; P < 0.001), had a higher proportion with tertiary education or above (38.3% vs. 31.5%; P = 0.005), and exhibited a lower rate of menopause (57.6% vs. 70.1%; P < 0.001) compared with their non-migraine counterparts. The median migraine attack frequency was 1.05 attacks/month, with an incidence rate of 2.40 attacks/person-month and a median duration of 7.00 hours/attack. The median migraine attack intensity score was 5.13. The top five prevalent triggers were sleep problems (61.8%), stress (53.7%), weather changes (37.6%), menstruation (24.5%), and depression (13.0%), with respective reporting rates of 35.8%, 33.1%, 13.5%, 16.5%, and 3.3%. Accompany symptoms of nausea exhibited the highest prevalence and reporting rate (prevalence: 60.1%; reporting rate: 33.8%), followed by photophobia (prevalence: 36.3%; reporting rate: 20.4%), phonophobia (prevalence: 26.3%; reporting rate: 20.4%), and vomiting (prevalence: 20.1%; reporting rate: 5.4%).
Conclusions: This study provides comprehensive insights into migraine prevalence and clinical features among Hong Kong Chinese women with migraine. The identification of prevalent triggers and accompanying symptoms may guide targeted CVD interventions for this population.