Health-related lifestyle behaviors in patients with vestibular migraine and migraine only: A cross-sectional comparative study

Objective: There is an increasing interest in lifestyle modification in the disease management of patients with vestibular migraine (VM) and migraine only (MO) without vertiginous complaints. The primary aim of this study was to compare health-related lifestyle factors, including sedentary behavior, sleep quality, mood, and nutrition habits, between patients with VM, MO, and healthy controls (HCs). The secondary aim was to explore the association between health-related lifestyle factors and disability status in VM and MO groups. Methods: This cross-sectional case-control study included 21 patients with VM, 30 patients with MO, and 33 HCs. Vertigo and headache severity caused by migraine-triggering foods with Numeric Rating Scale-NRS, disability status with Migraine Disability Assessment-MIDAS, sedentary behavior with Sedentary Behavior Questionnaire-SBQ, sleep quality with Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index-PSQI and mood with Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-HADS were recorded in 3 groups. Results: While the exercising, smoking, SBQ, PSQI, HADS-anxiety, and HADS-depression were similar for patients with VM and MO, a higher rate of alcohol consumption was found for patients with VM compared to the MO group (p < 0.05). The VM and MO groups demonstrated significant correlations between the headache severity caused by migraine-triggering foods and disability status (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Adapting new lifestyle interventions and dietary counseling should be encouraged to improve the disease management of patients with VM and MO.