Does Migraine Affect Sleep in Children and Adolescents?

We often discuss the links between sleep and migraine here. But studies are mostly focused on adults – what about children and adolescents?

A recent study published in the Journal of Medicine and Life has confirmed what we already suspected – there is a strong link between sleep problems and migraine.

In this small study, researchers chose 18 patients with migraine, and a control group of 16. Each patient was evaluated and underwent a sleep test. So this is a general sleep test, not a test to see how well patients slept when they were actually having a migraine attack. So the question is, how well do migraine patients sleep during a regular night?

In this study, researchers found that children and teens with migraine did tend to have less deep sleep and more light sleep. They had more “arousals” during the night. And it took them longer to fall asleep.

These indicators could be a sign of a sleep disorder. And researchers did note that the numbers were more likely to indicate sleep disorders in the children with migraine.

Studying migraine in children is an extremely complex issue. It can have very different symptoms in children compared to adults, and those symptoms can change quickly. Because this is a time of growth and development, diagnosis and treatment can be challenging, but it is also all the more important. Both migraine and sleep disorders can have a major impact on normal growth and learning.

Parents and doctors need to pay special attention not only to “headaches”, but to other symptoms, and to sleep and sleepiness during the day. Diagnosing a sleep disorder can be a major step forward in treating migraine early. And although this was a small preliminary study, it does confirm what other studies are telling us, and hopefully will lead to a quicker diagnosis of sleep problems in children who are experiencing migraine symptoms (which often include stomach pain and nausea in children).

Read a summary of the findings of this study here: Researchers Investigate Relationship Between Sleep Disorders, Migraine in Children

Full study: The Role of Polysomnography in Identifying Sleep Disorders in Children with Migraine