Clinical Utility of the Mig-SCog.

BACKGROUND: Mig-SCog is a 9-item questionnaire developed to quantify attack-related cognitive complaints in migraine (M). The items relate to executive function and language, and the total Mig-SCog score is the sum of those scales.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the Mig-SCog scores regarding cognitive symptoms during a variety of conditions.

METHODS: We conducted a prospective comparative study of the Mig-SCog scores (1) between migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) patients during a headache; (2) in migraine patients between migraine attacks, non-headache pain and pain-free status; (3) in migraine patients during and outside a migraine attack.

RESULTS: One hundred forty-nine patients (98 M and 51 TTHA). Total Mig-SCog score was higher in migraine patients than TTH (8.0 ± 4.1 vs 3.4 ± 3.2, P < .0001). Sixty-three patients took part in the next part of the study. Migraine patients rated the Mig-SCog higher for migraine (7.9 ± 4.6) than for non-headache pain (2.3 ± 2.9, P < .0006) or pain-free (1.6 ± 2.4, P < .0006). In the final phase of the study, 38 patients Mig-SCog scores were not significantly different whether obtained during or outside an M attack (P = .26).

CONCLUSIONS: Attack-related subjective cognitive symptoms, assessed by Mig-SCog scores, differed between migraine and TTH patients. The Mig-SCog scores from migraine patients were found to be higher during migraine than during non-headache pain or pain-free conditions. Patient scoring from memory for usual attacks was not significantly different to scoring within attacks, We believe this demonstrates negligible recall bias.