Trigger factors in migraine patients.

BACKGROUND Migraine is a chronic neurological disease with several trigger factors, including dietary, hormonal and environmental factors. PURPOSE To analyse precipitating factors in a sample of migraine patients. METHOD Two hundred consecutive migraine patients were interviewed about possible trigger factors for migraine attacks. RESULTS Most patients showed at least one dietary trigger, fasting was the most frequent one, followed by alcohol and chocolate. Hormonal factors appeared in 53%, being the pre-menstrual period the most frequent trigger. Physical activities caused migraine in 13%, sexual activities in 2.5% and 64% reported emotional stress a trigger factor. 81% related some sleep problem as a trigger factor. Regarding environmental factors, smells were reported by 36.5%. CONCLUSION Trigger factors are frequent in migraine patients, its avoidance may decrease headache frequency and also improve patients' quality of life.