Abstract

Background
Migraine is a common and disabling illness. But substantial migraine sufferers were underdiagnosed or undiagnosed. To improve migraine diagnosis, Korean Migraine Screening Questionnaire(KMSQ) was developed and validated in outpatient setting. Methods: A total of 507 patients who visited out patient clinic for headache were recruited in 10 hospitals in Korea and asked 10-item questionnaire concerning headache. 487 completed and returned the questionnaire. All patients were evaluated for headache and diagnosed by headache experts. Migraine diagnosis was assigned on International Head- ache Society(IHS) criteria after completing semi-structured diagnostic interview. Results: Of ten diagnostic questions derived from IHS criteria and headache expert experience, three-item subsets were deduced. Combination of questions regarding nausea, pulsating quality and photophobia showed optimum perfor- mances. Any two from the three items showed a sensitivity of 0.74, a specificity of 0.80, a positive predictive value of 80.8 and a negative predictive value of 73.5. Conclusion: The three-item Korean Migraine Screening Questionnaire was a valid and reliable migraine screening instru- ment in outpatient setting. It could help in improvement of migraine diagnosis and enhance migraine management.