Migraine vs Headache Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Which statement about migraine triggers is most accurate?
People with migraine can prevent every attack by eliminating enough triggers.
One specific food is responsible for nearly all migraine attacks.
A suspected trigger confirms that the headache is migraine.
Possible triggers vary between people and may contribute to an attack without being the underlying cause of migraine.
2. During exercise, someone experiences a sudden headache that reaches maximum intensity within about a minute and is unlike any previous headache. What is the most appropriate response?
Wait several days to see whether the same pattern returns
Seek urgent medical assessment
Assume it is migraine because physical activity can worsen migraine
Record it in a diary but take no other action
3. Why might frequent use of medicines intended to stop headache attacks become important to discuss with a healthcare professional?
Acute headache medicines permanently stop working after a fixed number of doses.
Using any pain medicine twice in one month proves that migraine is becoming chronic.
Frequent use of some acute medicines can contribute to medication-overuse headache or a more persistent headache pattern.
Only prescription migraine medicines can affect headache frequency.
4. Why might a clinician identify migraine without ordering a routine brain scan?
Migraine is usually identified from the symptom history and clinical assessment; testing is reserved for situations where another cause needs investigation.
A single symptom such as light sensitivity confirms migraine without any further assessment.
Brain imaging is avoided because it cannot detect any causes of headache.
A person's response to one dose of pain medicine provides a definitive diagnosis.
5. Someone reports mild-to-moderate pressure on both sides of the head. Walking does not worsen it, and there is no nausea. Which primary headache pattern is most consistent with this description?
Migraine with aura
Tension-type headache
Cluster headache
Medication-overuse headache
6. What is a migraine aura?
A required symptom that occurs in everyone with migraine
The general tiredness that always appears after any headache
A fever that develops several hours before migraine pain
A temporary neurological disturbance—often visual, sensory, or language-related—that may occur before or during migraine
7. After a fall, a person develops a headache that keeps worsening and is accompanied by repeated vomiting. Which response is most appropriate?
Seek prompt medical assessment because the headache followed an injury and is worsening
Wait for a visual aura before considering medical care
Manage it like a familiar mild headache without further assessment
Assume the pain is from stress after the fall
8. Two people describe head pain. One says routine movement such as climbing stairs makes the pain noticeably worse; the other says movement has little effect on a pressing pain. Which interpretation is most accurate?
Worsening with movement proves the first headache has a dangerous cause.
Movement has no relevance when comparing headache patterns.
Pain unaffected by movement is more characteristic of migraine.
Worsening with routine activity is more typical of migraine, while little effect is more typical of tension-type headache.
9. A person develops repeated 45-minute attacks of extremely severe pain around one eye, with tearing and nasal congestion on that side. They feel restless during each attack. Which pattern is most characteristic?
Cluster headache
Migraine aura without headache
A persistent headache caused by eye strain
Tension-type headache
10. A headache occurs with fever, a stiff neck, increasing confusion, and unusual drowsiness. What should the person do?
Treat it as an ordinary tension-type headache
Obtain urgent medical help
Wait until the fever resolves before seeking advice
Use light sensitivity alone to decide whether it is migraine
11. An adult has an untreated headache lasting most of a day. The pain pulses on one side, worsens when climbing stairs, and comes with nausea and light sensitivity. Which pattern fits best?
A typical tension-type headache pattern
A headache defined only by dehydration
A typical cluster headache pattern
A typical migraine pattern
12. A person repeatedly calls their attacks “sinus headaches” because they include facial pressure and nasal symptoms, but the attacks also cause nausea and strong light sensitivity. What is important to know?
Nasal symptoms exclude migraine and confirm a sinus infection.
Facial pressure always identifies tension-type headache.
Migraine can include facial pressure or nasal symptoms, so the overall pattern should be medically assessed.
Any pain near the sinuses requires antibiotics.
13. Which statement best explains the relationship between migraine and headache?
Every severe headache is a migraine, regardless of its other features.
Migraine and headache are separate conditions that never share symptoms.
Headache is a symptom category, while migraine is a neurological disorder that commonly includes headache.
Migraine refers only to a headache accompanied by visual aura.
14. Someone with a history of visual aura develops a new episode of one-sided weakness and difficulty speaking that feels different from previous events. What is the best response?
Wait for head pain, because neurological symptoms are harmless without it.
Seek urgent medical assessment rather than assuming it is a familiar aura.
Assume every new neurological symptom is another form of migraine aura.
Use the duration alone to diagnose the event at home.
15. How can caffeine affect headache patterns?
It may help some acute headaches, while heavy use or withdrawal can also contribute to headaches in some people.
It has no meaningful relationship with headache patterns.
It always prevents migraine when consumed every day.
A headache after missing caffeine confirms migraine.
16. A person wants to give a clinician a clearer picture of recurring headaches. What would be most useful to record in a headache diary?
Only the intensity of the single worst attack
Only foods eaten immediately before each headache
Timing, duration, symptoms, possible context, medicines used, and response to treatment
A guess about the diagnosis after every attack