Table 3.
Migraine and Obesity General Population Studies of Perireproductive and Postreproductive-Age Participants
| Author (Year) |
Study Analysis (Database) Size |
Population Inclusions |
Sex | Mean Age (range) |
Race | Exposure Categories |
Outcome | HA & BMI Dx (sr vs m) |
Statistical Size Adjustments |
Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mattsson et al47 (2007) |
CS-GP† n = 684 (EM: 130) |
1. Active Mig (≥1 Mig Attack In Prev Yr) 2. Inactive Mig (No Mig Past Yr But Prev Mig Hx) 3. No Mig≠ |
W | 54 (40–74) | NR | Active migraine (n = 130) Inactive migraine (n = 95) No migraine (n = 459)§ |
Mean BMI Obesity Status |
HA: ICHD BMI: (m) |
1. Age 2. Education |
The mean (m)-BMI was not significantly different in older women with active migraine (26.7 ± 4.7), inactive migraine (27.2 ± 4), and no migraine (26.7 ± 4.5),P = .32. Active and inactive migraine were not associated with obesity (LR chi-square = 0.07,2 d.f., P = .96). |
| Keith et al37 (2008) | CS-GP (WHI)‡ n = 220,370 (EM: NR) |
1) Severe/Freq HA or Mig 2) No Severe/ Freq HA or Mig |
W | >50 (50–79) | White 83% | BMI ~20§ BMI ~30 BMI ~40 |
OR Mig | HA: non-ICHD BMI: (m) |
1. Age 2. Race 3. Smoking |
As compared with those with (m)-BMI = 20, the odds of migraine were not increased in older women with BMI = 30 (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.96–1.04) or those with BMI = 40 (OR 0.99; 95% CI 0.92–1.07). |
| Winter et al49 (2009) | CS-GP (WHS) n = 63,467 (Mig: 9195) |
1) Active Mig (≥1 Mig Attacks In Prev Yr) 2) Inactive Mig (No Mig Past Yr But Prev Hx Mig) 3) No Mig§ |
W | 54 (≥45) | NR | BMI < 23 (n = 18,301) BMI 23–24.9§ (n = 12,475) BMI 25–26.9 (n = 9744) BMI 27–29.9 (n = 10,105) BMI 30–34.9 (n = 8338) BMI ≥ 35 (n = 4504) |
OR Mig | HA: non-ICHD BMI: (sr) |
1. Age 2. Smoking 3. Exercise 4. Alcohol 5. HTN 6. Menopausal status 7. Hormone use 8. Hypercholesterolemia |
The OR of migraine in older women with (sr)-BMI ≥ 35 (OR 1.03, CI 0.95–1.12) was not increased as compared with those with BMI < 23(ref). |
| Peterlin et al39(2010) | CS-GP (NHANES) n = 15,631 (Mig: 3915) |
1) Severe HA or Mig 2) No severe HA or Mig§ |
M &W Stratified |
68 (≥55) | M:White 81.8% Black 8.2%W: White 79.8% Black 9.1% | 1)BMI ≥ 30 (n = 4585) BMI< 30§ (n = 11,046) 2) Abd ob (n = 6631) No Abd-O≠ (n = 9000) Abd OB defined as WC ≥ 88 cm in women and WC ≥ 102 cm in men |
OR Mig | HA: non-ICHD BMI: (m) |
1. Age 2. Education 3. Race 4. Smoking 5. Alcohol 6. Income 7. Diabetes 8. abd-O or TBO |
The OR of migraine were not increased in older women or older men with (m)-BMI ≥30, (Women: OR 0.85, CI 0.67–1.08; Men: OR 0.82, CI 0.58–1.16) as compared with those with BMI < 30. The OR of migraine were decreased in older women with Abd-O (OR 0.73, CI 0.56–0.97) as compared with those without Abd-O; there was no difference in OR of migraine in men with Abd-O as compared with without Abd-O (OR 0.97; CI 0.70–1.34). |
| Winter et al48 (2012) | Long-GP (WHS) n = 19,162 (EM: 3483) |
Baseline: BMI 18.5- < 25 After 12.9 years 1) BMI 18.5 to <25§ 2) BMI ≥ 25 3) BMI ≥ 30 |
W | 54 (≥45) | White 95% | No migraine (n = 15,679)§ Any migraine (n = 3483) |
HR over-wt (BMI ≥ 25) or obese (BMI ≥30) | HA: Non-ICHD BMI: (sr) |
1. Age 2. Race 3. Smoking 4. Exercise 5. Alcohol 6. HTN 7.Menopausal status 8. Hormone use 9. Hypercholesterolemia 10. Depression 11. Calorie intake |
The HR for older women with any history of migraine (HR 1.00, CI 0.83–1.19) to become obese ([sr]-BMI ≥ 30) was not increased compared with women without migraine. |
| Peterlin et al43(2013) | CS-GP (NCS-R) n = 3862 (EM: 188) |
1) EM 2) No HA§ |
M &W Combined & Stratified | >50 (50–98) | White 85.5% Black 14.5% |
BMI < 18.5 (n = 129) BMI18.5–24.9§ (n = 1424) BMI 25–29.9 (n = 1306) BMI ≥ 30 (n = 1004) |
OR EM | HA: ICHD BMI: (sr) |
1. Age 2. Race 3. Sex 4. Smoking 5. Depression 6. Poverty index 7. Diabetes |
The OR of episodic migraine was not increased in older men and women with (sr)-BMI ≥ 30 (OR 1.15, CI 0.61–2.18) as compared with those with normal weight ([sr]-BMI 18.5–24.9). |
This study utilizes a Swedish database of women invited for mammography screening.
This study was a meta-analysis evaluating the association between headache in general and obesity; only the WHI database was used when evaluating the association between obesity and migraine specifically.
Reference group.
BMI = body mass index; cs = cross-sectional; CI = confidence interval; CS = cross-sectional;EM = episodic migraine; GP = general population study;HA = headache;HR = hazard ratio; hx=history; ICHD = International Classification of Headache Disorders; long = longitudinal; Mig = migraine; (m)-BMI = measured-BMI;M = men;NHANES = National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey;NR = not reported;OR = odds ratio; prev = previous; sr-BMI = self-reported BMI;W = women, WC = waist circumference; WHI = Women’s Health Initiative; yr = year.