Table 1. Summary of relevant studies.

IDA: Iron Deficiency Anemia; NHANES: National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys; VAS: Visual Analog Scale; HIT-6: Headache Impact Test; MM: Menstrual Migraine; TTH: Tension-Type Headache

Author and Year of Publication	Study Design	Intervention	Results	Mean Age	Male-to-Female Ratio	Conclusion	Comments
Mohammadi et al. (2016) [19]	Descriptive-analytic study	Investigation of the association between IDA and MM in women.	No significant relationship between IDA and MM (p=0.18). Significant association between IDA and migraine with aura (p=0.04).	34.5 years	Only female participants	Although IDA was more prevalent among patients with MM, it was not significantly associated with MM.	Small sample size, lack of representation of the general population.
Tayyebi et al. (2019) [13]	Case-control study	Assessment of the relationship between IDA and migraine in both male and female patients.	Significant differences in hemoglobin, serum ferritin levels, and IDA between female cases and controls (p=0.0004, p=0.006, p=0.001). No significant differences among males (p>0.05).	37.63 years (case group), 34.93 years (control group)	24 males and 76 females in both case and control groups	The study suggests an association between IDA and the incidence of migraines, particularly in females. Iron supplements might be effective in treating migraines associated with IDA.	Small sample size of male participants, and the study was conducted in a specific clinical setting, which may limit generalizability.
Meng et al. (2021) [17]	Cross-sectional study using data from the National Health and NHANES	Assessment of the association between dietary iron intake, serum ferritin levels, and the prevalence of severe headache or migraine among American adults.	Dietary iron intake was inversely associated with severe headache or migraine in women aged 20–50 years (p = 0.002). Serum ferritin was negatively associated with severe headache or migraine in women over 50 years (p < 0.001). No significant association between dietary iron intake or serum ferritin and migraines in men.	51 years (control), 44 years (cases)	49.8% male, 50.2% female (controls) 29.1% male, 70.9% female (cases)	The study suggests that increasing dietary iron intake may help prevent severe headaches or migraines in women aged 20-50 years, while higher serum ferritin levels may have a protective effect in women over 50 years.	Limitations include reliance on self-reported data for headache diagnosis, potential inaccuracies in dietary recall, and the inability to establish causality due to the cross-sectional design.
Sari et al. (2024) [18]	Retrospective cross-sectional study	Investigation of the effect of anemia severity and iron parameters on the frequency and severity of migraine attacks.	No significant difference in migraine frequency and severity across anemia subgroups. MM was associated with low hemoglobin levels (p = 0.03). Significant increase in VAS (p = 0.006) and HIT-6 scores (p = 0.01) with low ferritin levels.	32 patients with mild anemia: 36.6 ± 12.5 years 41 patients with moderate anemia: 46 ± 14.2 years 31 patients with severe anemia: 52.4 ± 13.7 years	85.6% female, 14.6% male	The presence and severity of anemia and iron deficiency do not affect migraine frequency and severity in general, but an inverse relationship was found between VAS, HIT-6, and ferritin levels. VAS was found to be more effective than HIT-6 in reflecting migraine severity.	Limitations included a small sample size and a predominantly female study population. Further research is needed to confirm the findings and explore gender differences.
Gür-Özmen et al. (2016) [16]	Case-control study	Investigation of the association between IDA and different types of headaches, including MM.	IDA was more common in migraine patients compared to controls (21.7% vs 12.9%, p=0.02). A significant association between IDA and MM (p=0.018).	35.05 years	85.6% female, 14.6% male	The study suggests a significant association between IDA and MM, particularly in women. The study highlights the potential role of estrogen, iron metabolism, and dopamine dysfunction in the pathophysiology of menstrual migraines.	Limitations include the use of a hospital-based control group, which is not representative of the general population.