Health Behaviors in Episodic Migraine: Why Behavior Change Matters

Purpose of Review

Episodic migraine is common. Everyday behavioral patterns are associated with migraine attacks and disability. This paper reviews health behaviors that can be targeted in people with episodic migraine to enhance migraine-related outcomes.

Recent Findings

Stressful events and perceived stress have demonstrated associations with migraine attack onset among people with episodic migraine. Consistency in daily patterns (eating, sleeping, exercise, and hydration status) is also associated with migraine activity. Sleep deprivation, fatigue, and poor quality sleep have demonstrated relationships with migraine attack onset, as well as headache frequency and headache-related disability in people with episodic migraine.

Summary

The health behaviors implicated in episodic migraine are part of everyday patterns and can be targeted routinely in clinical practice to improve migraine management. Behavior change is challenging and should ideally be supported by a multidisciplinary team. Future research should focus on evaluating specific behavior change interventions and the relative impact of behavior on migraine outcomes in high- and low-frequency episodic migraine.