Photophobia is an important criterion for the diagnosis of migraine. However, several Asian epidemiologic surveys about migraine showed lower prevalence of photophobia than that of Western studies. This discrepancy is probably caused by underestimatio...
Photophobia is an important criterion for the diagnosis of migraine. However, several Asian epidemiologic surveys about migraine showed lower prevalence of photophobia than that of Western studies. This discrepancy is probably caused by underestimation of photophobia due to inappropriate questioning of patients by physicians. To investigate this issue, we developed a questionnaire about photophobia and evaluated its usefulness in 103 patients with migraine. In phase 1 of the study, we found good repeatability of the questionnaire with a 0.826 kappa coefficient. In phase 2 of the study, the prevalence of photophobia from interviews and that from the questionnaire were compared. The prevalence of interview-documented photophobia was 51.5% and questionnaire-documented photophobia was 82.5% (p<0.001). In phase 3, we attempted to make a short-form questionnaire with the same detection power of the whole questionnaire. Two short-form questionnaires were identified as a useful method for detecting photophobia. The prevalence of photophobia could be underreported via interview, especially in Asian migraineurs. Using this questionnaire to test for photophobia, the diagnostic rate of photophobia and migraine could be improved.