Infant Colic Is Associated with Maternal Migraine (S36.005)

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether maternal migraine is associated with an increased prevalence of infant colic. Background Childhood periodic syndromes are thought to be early life expressions of the genetic tendency for migraine. Infant colic, i.e. excessive crying in an otherwise healthy infant, may be another such example of an early manifestation of a migraine genetic tendency. Design/Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of infant colic and parental migraine history in general pediatric clinics in San Francisco. To minimize recall bias, mothers were surveyed at their infants9 two-month-old well-child visit, as this is the age when infant colic is most prevalent. Colic was ascertained via parental report using modified Wessel9s colic criteria. Migraine history was obtained by having a physician diagnosis of migraine or a positive screen on IDMigraine. The primary outcome measure was difference in colic prevalence in infants with and without a maternal history of migraine. The Chi-squared test was used to compare differences between groups. Results: One-hundred and sixty-five surveys were collected; data from 154 infant-mother pairs were analyzed. Infants with a maternal history of migraine were 2.6 times as likely to have colic than infants without a maternal history of migraine (28.6% vs. 11.1%, prevalence ratio 2.6 (1.2-5.5); p=0.02). There was no difference in the accuracy with which migraineur mothers perceived their infants9 colic status compared to non-migraineur mothers. Data on paternal history of migraine was available for ninety-three of the infants. Infants with a paternal history of migraine had a trend toward higher prevalence of colic (22.2% vs. 9.5%, prevalence ratio 2.3 (0.6-9.4), p=0.24). Conclusions: Maternal migraine is associated with increased risk of infant colic. As migraine has a strong genetic underpinning, this association suggests that infant colic may be an early life manifestation of migraine. Disclosure: Dr. Gelfand has received personal compensation in an editorial capacity for Journal Watch Neurology. Dr. Thomas has nothing to disclose. Dr. Goadsby has received personal compensation for activities with Allergan, Inc., Amgen Inc, Colucid, MAP Pharmaceuticals, MSD, Neuralieve, Neuraxon, ATI, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Boston Scientific, Coherex, Eli Lilly & Company, Medtronic, Inc., Linde, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Pfizer Inc, and Air Products. Dr. Goadsby has received research support from GlaxoSmithKline, Inc., Amgen Inc, MSD, Neuralieve, and Boston Scientific.