Menstrual migraine screening – effective or obvious?

If you have ever wandered over to my other blog, Marijke: nurse turned writer, you may have noticed that I tend to be a bit skeptical and critical of some studies. To me, many of them are just a little too obvious and score well on the “duh” factor. Here’s another one that makes me wonder – is this good or is this just a little too obvious?

Study findings for a menstrual migraine screen were presented this week at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists annual meeting. The study involved asking 250 non-pregnant women 9 questions about migraines and the following 3 were found to be the most effective in determining menstrual migraine prevalence:

1. Do you have headaches that are related to your period most months?

2. When your headaches are related to your period, do they eventually become severe?

3. When your headaches are related to your period, does light bother you more than when you don’t have a headache?

The study had a second stage that involved asking 610 women these questions.

While research into disabling migraines is appreciated, without a doubt, but – is it just me or are these questions obvious enough that they could have been asked without studies?

~~~~~~~~~