Time delay from onset to diagnosis of migraine

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the factors involved in the delayed diagnosis of migraine without aura among patients attending a tertiary center for headache diagnosis and management. METHODS: Two hundred consecutive patients were divided into 3 groups according to the time elapsed from the first clinical manifestations and the diagnosis of migraine at our center. RESULTS: The interval was <1 year in 16.5% of patients (n = 33); from 1 to 5 years in 30% (n = 60); and >5 years in 53.5% (n = 107). Younger age at migraine onset and a lower level of education were significantly associated with a longer time to diagnosis (P = .01 and P = .0001, respectively). Longer delays were significantly associated with a larger number of specialists consulted (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest an insufficient awareness of the diagnostic criteria of migraine by non-specialist physicians, who often prescribe expensive and unnecessary diagnostic investigations that do not alleviate patients' symptoms while wasting health care resources.