OBJECTIVES: Assess the clinimetric properties of the MIGRAINE-SCREEN-Q (MS-Q) questionnaire for the screening of patients with migraine in the general population. METHODS: A 16-item tool was developed from the International Headache Criteria (IHS) of Migraine and a review of the literature by a panel of 6 experts in neurology, occupational medicine, clinimetrics, and methodology. The MS-Q instrument was mailed and filled in by the employees working for at least 3 months at the Pfizer company (Step I) and self-administered to patients of a Neurological Clinic (Step II and III) in Spain. All subjects were subsequently referred for an independent diagnosis by a neurologist, blinded of MS-Q results. The diagnosis was assigned according to IHS criteria. Statistical methods included logistic regression, ROC curves analysis and determination of sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values with its 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: In all, 415 employees (Step I) and 50 patients (Step II) were recruited. Of them, 325 subjects were evaluable and diagnosed as having migraine (n=85), other headaches (n=80) and non-headache subjects (n=160). A further 140 patients were recruited in a Neurological Clinic and analysed independently to get a sample of 70 migraine and 70 non-migraine patients (Step III). A five-item subset (headache frequency and severity, 4 hours’ to 3 days’ duration, nausea, sensitivity to light/noise and disability) out of 16 preliminary items was derived by logistic regression analyses. A cut-off of 4 or more points provided a sensitivity of 0.93 (95%CI, 0.87-0.99), specificity of 0.81 (0.72-0.91), a positive predictive value of 0.83 (0.75-0.91) and a negative predictive value of 0.92 (0.85-0.99). The reliability Cronbach Alpha coefficient was 0.82. CONCLUSIONS: The 5-item MIGRAINE SCREEN-Q instrument was found to be a valid and reliable screening tool for migraine headaches. Further studies are warranted to test its applicability in the general population.