Abstract
Modification of lifestyle habits is a key preventive strategy for many diseases. The role of lifestyle for the onset of headache in general and for specific headache types, such as migraine and tension-type headache (TTH), has been discussed for many years. Most results, however, were inconsistent and data on the association between lifestyle factors and probable headache forms are completely lacking. We evaluated the cross-sectional association between different lifestyle factors and headache subtypes using data from three different German cohorts. Information was assessed by standardized face-to-face interviews. Lifestyle factors included alcohol consumption, smoking status, physical activity and body mass index. According to the 2004 diagnostic criteria, we distinguished the following headache types: migraine, TTH and their probable forms. Regional variations of lifestyle factors were observed. In the age- and gender-adjusted logistic regression models, none of the lifestyle factors was statistically significant associated with migraine, TTH, and their probable headache forms. In addition, we found no association between headache subtypes and the health index representing the sum of individual lifestyle factors. The lifestyle factors such as alcohol consumption, smoking, physical activity and overweight seem to be unrelated to migraine and TTH prevalence. For a judgement on their role in the onset of new or first attacks of migraine or TTH (incident cases), prospective cohort studies are required.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10194-010-0286-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Primary headache disorders, including migraine and tension-type headache (TTH), affect millions of people worldwide [1]
The aim of our study was to evaluate the association between four common lifestyle factors including alcohol consumption, body mass index (BMI), physical activity and smoking and headache prevalence in three different German studies applying the 2004 diagnostic criteria of the International Headache Society (IHS)
In KORA, participants were less likely to have a history of hypertension, diabetes, stroke or cancer compared to participants in Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) or in the Dortmund Health Study (DHS)
Summary
Primary headache disorders, including migraine and tension-type headache (TTH), affect millions of people worldwide [1]. Certain trigger factors for migraine and for TTH have been identified in the past [4, 5]. These trigger factors include alcohol consumption and physical activity [6, 7]. The aim of our study was to evaluate the association between four common lifestyle factors including alcohol consumption, body mass index (BMI), physical activity and smoking and headache prevalence (migraine, probable migraine, TTH, probable TTH) in three different German studies applying the 2004 diagnostic criteria of the IHS
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