Title : From classroom to clinic: Aligning migraine care with public health
Abstract:
Background: Migraine is one of the most common neurological disorders in children, contributing significantly to missed school days, reduced academic performance, and psychosocial stress. Despite its high prevalence, pediatric migraine remains under-addressed in school health systems, often falling through the cracks of both clinical and educational support frameworks. School-based interventions represent a critical yet underutilized access point for early migraine management and student well-being.
Objective: To map and characterize school-based interventions for pediatric migraine with a focus on implementation strategies and integration into broader public health or school health infrastructures.
Methods: This scoping review is being conducted in accordance with PRISMA-ScR guidelines. PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO are being systematically searched for English-language studies published from 2000 to 2025 that report on school-based interventions for children and adolescents (ages 5–18) with migraine. Interventions are being charted by delivery model, setting, implementation strategy (as defined by the ERIC taxonomy), outcomes measured, and alignment with systems-level public health frameworks such as the CDC’s Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model.
Preliminary Insights: Preliminary screening reveals a diverse but fragmented landscape of interventions, including nurse-led protocols, migraine education modules, classroom-based self-regulation strategies, and digital tools. Frequently reported strategies include staff training and parent engagement. However, few studies explicitly describe integration with school district policy, health curricula, or public health surveillance systems. Critical elements such as long-term outcome tracking, equity considerations, and cost-effectiveness are rarely addressed.
Conclusion: This review is among the first to examine school-based pediatric migraine care through both implementation science and public health lenses. Emerging findings suggest that while promising interventions exist, they are rarely embedded within sustainable or policy-aligned systems. Closing this gap will require intentional cross-sector collaboration, longitudinal evaluation, and alignment with whole-child health frameworks to ensure every child with migraine has access to timely, equitable care within the environments where they learn and grow.
