Migraine in the post-menopausal period is associated with higher levels of mood disorders, disability, and more menopausal symptoms

Abstract

Objective To assess the prevalence of headache in post-menopausal women. Methods Women attending gynecology outpatient services in the coastal region of the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil were invited to participate in this study. Only those with non-surgical menopause and no hormone replacement therapy were included. Prevalence and characterization of headaches were assessed, as well as the burden of migraine, traits of anxiety and depression, and menopausal symptomatology. Results One hundred and three women were included in the study. Migraine affected 14.7% of them. Some previous type of headache was reported by 86.2% of the women, most of whom improved during menopause but still presented with headache attacks. There was a correlation between higher migraine disability and depressive traits. Conclusions Many women believe that their headaches, particularly migraine, will end after menopause. This is, unfortunately, not the case for many of them.

Serum levels of allopregnanolone, progesterone and testosterone in menstrually-related and postmenopausal migraine: A cross-sectional study

“…Nevertheless, in many women migraine does not end after menopause. In these cases, migraine seems associated with higher levels of mood disorders, disabilities and menopausal symptoms ( 16 ). The mechanisms of persisting migraine after menopause and hormonal changes in this condition have also been poorly studied ( 17 ).…”

Patterns of Migraine in Postmenopausal Women: A Systematic Review

“…The electronic searches in the scientific databases identified 1296 potentially relevant records: after removing duplicates, we assessed for eligibility titles and abstracts of 1265 references. Afterwards, we evaluated 50 full-text articles and included 12 studies [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] in the systematic review ( Figure 1). In the eligibility and inclusion stage, the agreement among the judgements of the authors (Krippendorff's alpha coefficient, α) was 0.90 and 0.96, respectively.…”

“…12 The study performed in a gynecology clinic found that migraine was present in 14.7% of women in the postmenopausal period; most of those women had a mild migraine-related disability; however, postmenopausal women with migraine had a higher prevalence of menopausal and depressive symptoms compared with those without migraine. 20 The study performed in the general population showed that migraine frequency, duration, and associated symptoms were higher in women than in men even after the menopause; that study did not directly compare postmenopausal with pre-menopausal women. 22 In all the reviewed studies, no information was available regarding the difference between migraine with and without aura.…”

“…Six studies assessed migraine prevalence and characteristics in postmenopausal women (Table 2). 12,13,18,[20][21][22] Four studies were performed in headache clinics, 12,13,18,21 one in a gynecology clinic, 20 and one was a survey in the general population. 22 Two of the studies performed in headache clinics found that the postmenopausal period was associated with less frequent and/or less severe migraine in more than half of women, 12 while another study performed in a headache clinic found that most women reported migraine submit your manuscript | www.dovepress.com…”

“…Our review also pointed out that postmenopausal migraine can be a relevant issue for gynecologists, as migraine had a high prevalence (about 15%) in women attending a menopause clinic and was associated with a high burden of menopausal symptoms. 20 Collaboration between headache physicians and gynecologists can be useful to assess the real burden of migraine in postmenopausal women, especially several years after the menopause onset, as solid literature data are lacking in this field.…”