Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Headache in Pediatric Migraine Patients at a Single Tertiary Center

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on children and adolescents with migraine. Methods: This longitudinal cohort study enrolled children and adolescents with migraine from the Department of Pediatric Neurology at our hospital from January 2017 to June 2021. Self-reported data from individual headache diaries were used. The patients were questioned about their headache frequency and intensity, stress, physical activity, changes in mood and sleep, and their school and home lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pediatric Migraine Disability Assessment (Ped-MIDAS) scoring system was applied to assess headache-related disability. Results: In total, 325 pediatric migraine patients (mean age 12.8±5.6 years, 62.5% female) were included in this study. The average monthly frequency of migraine headaches was 2.17±1.32 and 4.62±3.29 before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (P