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. 2017 Jan 27:13:253-258.
doi: 10.2147/NDT.S119648. eCollection 2017.

Visual-spatial training efficacy in children affected by migraine without aura: a multicenter study

Francesco Precenzano  1 , Maria Ruberto  2 , Lucia Parisi  3 , Margherita Salerno  4 , Agata Maltese  3 , Beatrice Gallai  5 , Rosa Marotta  6 , Serena Marianna Lavano  7 , Francesco Lavano  6 , Michele Roccella  3
Affiliations

Visual-spatial training efficacy in children affected by migraine without aura: a multicenter study

Francesco Precenzano et al. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. .

Abstract

Routinely in the clinical practice, children affected by migraine without aura (MwA) tend to exhibit severe and persistent difficulties within cognitive processes such as attention, memory, and visual-motor integration (VMI) skills. The aim of this study was to assess the visual-spatial and visual-motor abilities among a sample of children with MwA and the effects of a specific computerized training. The study population was composed of 84 patients affected by MwA (39 girls and 45 boys; mean age: 8.91±2.46 years), and they were randomly divided into two groups (group A and group B) comparable for age (P=0.581), gender (P=0.826), socioeconomic status (SES), migraine frequency (P=0.415), and intensity (P=0.323). At baseline (T0), the two groups were comparable for movement assessment battery for children (M-ABC) and VMI performances. After 6 months of treatment (T1), group A showed lower scores in the dexterity item of M-ABC test (P<0.001) and higher scores in M-ABC global performance centile (P<0.001) and total (P<0.001), visual (P=0.017), and motor (P<0.001) tasks of VMI test than group B. Moreover, at T1, group A showed higher scores in total (P<0.001) and motor (P<0.001) tasks of VMI test and in M-ABC global performance centile (P<0.001) and lower scores in the dexterity item of M-ABC test (P<0.001) than at T0. Group B showed, at T1, performances comparable to T0 for all evaluations. As reported by recent studies about alteration MwA among children in motor abilities, our study confirmed these difficulties and the efficacy of a specific software training, suggesting a new rehabilitative proposal in childhood.

Keywords: migraine without aura; visual–motor integration; visual–motor training skills.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

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