Psychiatry Research EG

Aim Studying the cognitive functions among Alexandria University Students Hospital patients, suffering from common migraine (either newly diagnosed or on regular treatment). Patients and methods A total of three groups were studied: the newly diagnosed migraine group (group I, 20 patients), the chronic migraine group (group II, 20 patients), and the control group (group III, 20 patients). Their cognitive functions were compared using Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Results The mean total intelligence quotient (IQ) scores of chronic migraine group (106.65±4.18) and newly diagnosed migraine group (106.90±4.95) were significantly lower than that of control group (111.35±6.47) (P=0.007). There was no significant difference between mean IQ scores of chronic and newly diagnosed migraine groups. The mean score of newly diagnosed migraine (6.80±1.54) in digit backward subtest was significantly higher than that of chronic migraine group (5.70±1.49) and control group (5.70±2.13) (P<0.05). Conclusion Patients with migraine have worse score than control in total IQ. However, this score is still within the normal limits. This difference may be related to the pain itself. This needs to be scientifically tested in further researches. On the contrary, newly diagnosed migraine group showed worse performance in working memory than chronic migraine group. No difference between chronic migraine patients and control. This denotes that adaptation can improve working memory of patients with migraine with the passage of time.