Joint hypermobility syndrome: A common clinical disorder associated with migraine in women

Preliminary studies suggested that headache disorders are more common in patients with joint hypermobility syndrome (JHS). The objectives of this study were to determine if the prevalence, frequency, and disability of migraine differ between female patients with JHS and a control population. Twenty-eight patients with JHS and 232 controls participated in the case-cohort study. Participants underwent a structured verbal interview and were assigned a diagnosis of migraine based on criteria of the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd Edition. The primary outcome measures were the prevalence, frequency, and headache-related disability of migraine. Logistic regression was used for the prevalence analysis and Poisson regression for the frequency and disability analyses. Results indicated that the prevalence of migraine was 75% in JHS patients and 43% in controls. The adjusted odds ratio for the prevalence of migraine was 3.19 (95% CI 1.24, 8.21] in JHS patients. The rate ratios for migraine frequency and headache-related disability were 1.67 (95% CI 1.01, 2.76) and 2.99 (95% CI 1.66, 5.38), respectively, for JHS patients. Our study suggests that JHS is a clinical disorder strongly associated with an increased prevalence, frequency, and disability of migraine in females.