Search resultsAssociation between lifestyle factors and headache
Title
Association between lifestyle factors and headache
Publication type
Journal Article
Year of Publication
2011
Authors
Journal
Journal of Headache and Pain
Volume
12
Issue
2
Pagination
147 - 155
Date published
2011
ISBN
11292369 (ISSN)
Keywords
Adult, Aged, alcohol consumption, article, body mass, Body Mass Index, cohort analysis, Cohort Studies, controlled study, Cross-Sectional Studies, cross-sectional study, Female, Germany, health survey, human, Humans, Interview, lifestyle, logistic regression analysis, major clinical study, male, Middle Aged, migraine, Migraine Disorders, physical activity, prevalence, priority journal, Risk Factors, Risk Reduction Behavior, smoking, tension headache, Tension-Type Headache
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.