Body mass index, migraine, migraine frequency and migraine features in women |
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| Authors: | AC Winter,K Berger,JE Buring,& T Kurth |
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| Affiliation: | Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germany,;Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Divisions of Preventive Medicine and Aging, Harvard Medical School,;Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, and;Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA |
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| Abstract: | We evaluated the association of body mass index (BMI) with migraine and migraine specifics in a cross-sectional study of 63 467 women aged ≥ 45 years, of whom 12 613 (19.9%) reported any history of migraine and 9195 had active migraine. Compared with women without migraine and a BMI < 23 kg/m2, women with a BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 had adjusted odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence intervals) of 1.03 (0.95, 1.12) for any history of migraine. Findings were similar for active migraineurs. Women with a BMI of ≥ 35 kg/m2 had increased risk for low and high migraine frequency, with the highest estimate for women who reported daily migraine. Compared with women with the lowest associated risk (migraine frequency < 6 times/year; BMI between 27.0 and 29.9 kg/m2), women with a BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 had an OR of daily migraine of 3.11 (1.12, 8.67). Among the women with active migraine, a BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 was associated with increased risk of phonophobia and photophobia and decreased risk of a unilateral pain characteristic and migraine aura. Our data confirm previous findings that the association between BMI with migraine is limited to migraine frequency and specific migraine features. |
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| Keywords: | Migraine overweight obesity women epidemiology |
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