Purpose: Migraine-Specific Quality of life (MSQ) questionnaire v.2.1 is being used in practice to evaluate cervicogenic headache-specific quality of life. We aimed to provide evidence for validity and reliability of MSQ version 2.1 in cervicogenic patients compared to migraine.
Method: A cross-sectional study included 30 cervicogenic (CGH) patients and 30 migraine patients without aura. All patients were diagnosed according to International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3). The inclusion criteria include adults aged 18–65 years without other causes of secondary headaches or other primary headaches patients. All patients were subjected to historical physical examination and structured MSQ questionnaire interviewing. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used with AMOS.V.26 to evaluate the latent structure with 3 dimensions of the MSQ.v.2.1 in CGH and migraine without aura.
Results: Total scores of the MSQ with CGH patients were better than those of migraine without aura patients (mean±SD, 65.37±9.59 vs 51.63±5.41). Additionally, domain scores for “Role Restrictive" of patients with CGH were better than those of migraine. CFA model fits the input data into MSQ.v.2.1 questionnaire indicated by the fitness indices. All standardized path coefficients in CFA significantly exceeded 0.5, indicating good latent structure. Subgroup analysis of CFA showed significant difference between the groups (X2 =21.4, p < 0.001). The MSQ exhibited good discriminant validity (p < 0.001), internal consistency reliability (α =0.9), and composite reliability (0.87).
Conclusion: MSQ.v.2.1 is a reliable and valid tool to evaluate CGH-specific quality of life. Quality of life of CGH patients may be better than those with migraine among Egyptians.