Background: Migraine is a common chronic and disabling condition, diagnosed late in most patients. Late diagnosis is mainly due to the lack of early diagnostic criteria that could be used in primary healthcare. We aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Arabic version of the migraine screen questionnaire (MS-Q) as a screening tool for migraine in the primary care setting.
Methods: This study had three stages. Stage 1 involved the translation of the MS-Q from English to Arabic and back-translation from Arabic to English. In stage 2, the test-retest reliability of the questionnaire was assessed. In stage 3, the questionnaire was validated against the diagnosis made by expert physicians based on the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition (ICHD-3), in 308 patients attending primary healthcare centers in Saudi Arabia.
Results: Of the 400 screened participants, 308 (77%) were eligible for the study (mean age, 29.9 ± 8.9 years). The Cronbach α coefficient ranged from 0.81 to 0.83 (95% CI), which considered accepted. The Pearson correlation coefficient showed a high intraclass correlation (95% CI, 0.77-0.82). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis between MS-Q and ICHD-3 scores showed an area under the curve of 0.97 (95% CI, 0.94-0.99), with a sensitivity of 0.95 and specificity of 0.99.
Conclusion: The Arabic version of the MS-Q is an easy-to-use, straightforward, valid, and reliable tool for primary care diagnosis of migraine.
Key words: Headache, migraine, Arabic, questionnaire
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