Table 2.

Summary of Observational Studies Assessing the Course of Migraine in Postmenopausal Women

Study	Publication Year	Country	Design	Setting	N	N (%) Migraine with Aura	Age, Mean±SD	N (%) Postmenopausal	Outcome	Main Results
Neri et al12	1993	Italy	Retrospective questionnaire	Headache clinic	47	0	NR	47 (100.0)	Migraine course during menopause	- Physiological menopause (n=33): 22 (67%) improved, 8 (24%) unchanged, 3 (9%) worsened - Surgical menopause (n=6): 4 (67%) worsened, 2 (33%) improved - 8 patients started having migraine after the menopause
MacGregor et al13	1997	UK	Retrospective questionnaire + prospective diary	Headache clinic	100	22 (22.0)	38.2±11.9	16 (16.0)	Migraine course during menopause	- Physiological menopause (n=11): 7 worsened, 2 unchanged, 2 improved - Post-hysterectomy (n=5): worsening in all
Oh et al18	2012	South Korea	Retrospective questionnaire	Headache clinic	229	NR	47.3±4.1	82 (35.8)	Prevalence of migraine according to menopausal status	Migraine was present in 75.6% of premenopausal, 66.7% of perimenopausal, and 61.0% of postmenopausal women (P=0.127)
Carturan et al20	2016	Brazil	Cross-sectional	Gynecology clinic	103 (15 with migraine)	NR	51.2±3.1	103 (100.0)	1) Prevalence of migraine after the menopause 2) Migraine-related disability after the menopause 3) Association between migraine and menopausal or depressive symptoms	1) 14.7% of menopausal women had migraine 2) 66.7% of migraineurs had mild, 26.7% moderate, and 6.6% high disability according to MIDAS scores 3) Women with migraine had significantly higher levels of anxiety and depressive traits (P=0.01) and more menopausal symptoms (P<0.01) than those without - MIDAS score correlated with depressive symptoms (P<0.01)
Makita et al21	2016	Japan	Retrospective questionnaire	Headache clinic	171	10 (6.2%)	48.5±8.0	30 (17.5)	1) Migraine frequency compared with the 2nd and 3rd age decade 2) Migraine severity compared with the 2nd and 3rd age decade	1) >50% of postmenopausal women reported less frequent migraine compared with their 2nd and 3rd age decade 2) >50% of postmenopausal women reported less severe migraine compared with their 2nd and 3rd age decade
Akarsu et al22	2020	Turkey	Cross-sectional	Community-based	640	135 (21.1)	37.0±11.4	87 (13.6)	Migraine frequency, duration and associated symptoms in women compared with men	Migraine duration was longer and associated symptoms more common in women than in men, even after the menopause

Abbreviations: MIDAS, Migraine Impact and Disability Assessment Scale; NR, not reported.