Impact of physical exercise On reducing the frequency and severity of migraine without aura: a multi-center cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background and Objective:

Migraine without aura is the most common subtype of migraine and causes significant distress to its sufferers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the role of physical exercise in reducing the frequency and severity of attacks in patients with migraine without aura.

Methods:

This multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2024 to February 2025 in departments of neurology and medicine in two tertiary care hospitals in Quetta and Khuzdar. A total of 384 adults age 18–60 years with migraine without aura, diagnosed using ICHD-3 criteria, were selected through consecutive sampling. Patients with other headache types or neurological disorders were excluded. Data were collected via data collection tool. Exercise was defined as aerobic activity for 30 minutes, three times weekly. Pain severity was measured using the Visual Analog Scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS 25.

Results:

In this study, 288 (75%) were females and 96 (25%) were males, with a mean age of 31.6 ± 8.7 years. Among 384 participants, 143 (37.2%) engaged in exercise, most commonly walking 101 (70.6%), and 92 (64.4%) exercised ≥3 times/week. Stress was reported in 294 (76.6%), irregular sleep in 121 (31.5%), and dietary triggers in 103 (26.8%). Regular exercisers had significantly fewer migraine attacks per month (3.1 ± 1.6) as compared with non-exercisers (4.9 ± 2.3) with p-value < 0.001.

Conclusion:

Regular physical exercise was associated with a significant reduction in both the frequency and severity of migraine without aura attacks.