@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2252-0805    The Horizon of Medical Sciences 2016;22(4):291-297

Background
Migraine is a neurological disorder caused by a series of incidents in the brain and the brain stem, and it`s not just a headache [1].
Previous Studies
... [2-8]. some domestic researches showed that high-intensity endurance exercise reduces migraine headache indices while increasing aerobic fitness in patients with migraine [9] ... [10-15].
Aim(s)
The main objective of this study was to examine the effect of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (MIA) on the indices of migraine and life quality of patients with migraine.
Research type
This is a quasi-experimental applied study and a randomized controlled trial (RCT).
Research society, place and time
This study was carried out in 2015 in Kermanshah in the form of pretest and posttest with the control group.
Sampling method and number
To determine the required number of samples, random sampling method was used to estimate the mean of a trait in the society. 20 non-athletic female patients with migraine, whose diseases had been confirmed by a neurology physician, participated in the study. They were randomly assigned to the control group and the group with moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, each consisting of 10 people. The criteria for entering the study included 18 to 45-year-old women with migraine, no history of regular exercises in the past six months, not having chronic cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, asthma, AIDS, meningitis and multiple sclerosis, confirmation of headache by a Neurology physician, and obtaining the test criteria in VO2 max (above 20). Exclusion criteria were performing exercise program in addition to training program which was used in the study, not participating in the training program for more than 3 sessions and patients` free decline to continue taking part in exercise program or any of the stages of research.
Used devices&materials
The main executive protocol of the study lasted for four months, such that one month before and one month after the training protocol, migraine headache indices including the frequency, duration and intensity of attacks were assessed through daily headache questionnaire [9, 16]. 48 hours before and after the training protocol, quality of life by Headache Impact Test (HIT-6) questionnaires [9, 17, 18], body composition factors including height, age, sex, weight and body fat percentage by using Body composition (9.9 Zuse; South Korea), Body Mass Index (BMI) through dividing weight in kg by the square of height in meters, WHR (waist-hip ratio) and VO2max by Strand bike (Monarch E839; Sweden) were measured. The feature of HIT-6 questionnaire was that by increasing the quality of life, the numbers of the questionnaire reduced. The training protocol of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (13-15 Borg scale of perceived exertion, equivalent to 45 to 60% of VO2max) for 8 weeks was performed three sessions a week, each time for 40 minutes [19]. The training program involved basic exercise (running), 10 minutes of warming up and 10 minutes of cooling (Table 1). In order to draw tables and represent statistical average, descriptive statistics was used. According to the survey of the normality of data distribution by Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and the existence of control and experimental groups as well as pre-test and post-test examining, to analyze data, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and LSD post hoc test were used. In addition, independent T-test was deployed to examine the difference between the percentage changes in groups. All statistical calculations were performed using SPSS 21 software.
Findings by Text
The mean age of subjects in the control and experimental groups were 32.4 ± 5.7 and 38.3 ± 5.7 years, respectively. The mean height in the control and experimental groups were 1.60 ± 0.05 and 1.60 ± 0.06 meters, respectively. MIA exercise resulted in a significant decrease in the intensity, frequency and duration of headaches attacks, improving the quality of life and increasing aerobic capacity (p <0.001). Moreover, MIA exercise significantly decreased the weight (p <0.001), BMI (p <0.05) and body fat percent (p <0.05). However, no significant changes were observed in WHR (p>0.05; Table 2). After 8 weeks of MIA exercise, the intensity of migraine headaches, their duration, the frequency of migraine attacks, BMI, fat percentage and WHR decreased 62.32, for 78.42, 67.07, 3.56, 10.33 and 1.67 percent, respectively. On the other hand, the quality of life and aerobic capacity improved 40.54 and 43.90 percent, respectively. The percentage of the changes in all variables, except for WHR, was significant from pre-test to post-test between the control and experimental groups (p <0.05).
Main comparison to the similar studies
Earlier, some studies indicated that moderate aerobic exercise does not significantly improve the indices of migraine headache. One of these studies regards the results by Grimm et al. [20]. These researchers had used exercises with the intensity of 50-85% of VO2max. They did not report any decrease in the intensity of migraine attacks. ... [21-25]. Different studies including Dietrich et al. [26], Varki et al. [14] and others [9, 16], demonstrated improvements in life quality of patients with migraine after doing aerobic exercises.
Suggestions
It is recommended to conduct future researches on emphasizing aerobic exercises on some factors involved in migraine such as CGRP and changes of endogenous opioids in these patients.
Limitations
Lack of cooperation from some physicians and not encouraging patients with migraine to participate in exercising programs had important roles in the development of these limitations. Lack of control over drug consumption and the nutrition of the patients were considered as other limitations of this study.
Conclusions
Moderate-intensity aerobic exercise is effective in reducing migraine headache indices, and improving life quality and aerobic fitness in women with migraine.
Acknowledgments
Special regards are addressed to all patients with migraine who participated in this study.
Conflict of interest
Non-declared
Ethical Permissions
This research project has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences under the Code of kums.rec.1394.15 and has been registered with the clinical trial number of IRCT2015100910824N2.
Funding Sources
This study is taken from a part of research project with the number of 94292, funded by the Research Department of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences as a MA Thesis in the field of Exercise Physiology.

TABLES and CHARTS

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