Association between eating behavior and lifestyle habits and increase in migraine attacks in university students during Covid-19 pandemic

Background The Covid-19 pandemic caused changes in the population's lifestyle and dietary patterns which are important triggers for migraine crises. Objective Evaluating the association between eating behavior and lifestyle habits and the increase of migraine attacks in university students during the Covid-19 pandemic. Methods Descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective study carried out with university students from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, between December/2020 and June/2021. The university students were invited by WhatsApp® and institutional email and then directed to the free and informed consent form and questionnaire, filled through the research management application. This research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee under evaluation report 4.351.573. Data were analyzed by descriptive analysis. Results A sample of 83 individuals, 89.2% women, 45.8% sedentary, 51.8% gained weight recently, 73.4% had low water intake, 59.0% had difficulty to conciliate and 50.6% had difficulty to maintain the sleep. Before the pandemic, 7.3% reported 7-14 days of migraine per month and, after, this figure increased to 24.1%. 36.1% of students associated food with migraine attacks, the main triggers were: coffee (20.5%), chocolate (14.5%), sausages (12.0%), alcohol (9.6%) and sugar (6.0%). The increase in migraine days was associated with difficulty in maintaining sleep (p<0.002). Conclusion Despite the statistically significant result only between difficulty to conciliate the sleep and greater frequency of migraine, changes in lifestyle and eating behavior caused by the Covid-19 pandemic also seem to imply in an increase in days with migraine in university students. Hellen Maria Santos da Silva hellenmariaa.11@gmail.com Edited by: Marcelo Moraes Valença