Background

Migraine is a neurological disease characterized by moderate-to-severe headaches and associated clinical features (e.g., nausea, light sensitivity). We previously showed that obesity increases risk for migraine and patients pursuing obesity treatment experience migraine at a rate that is 2-fold higher than that observed in the general population. Physical activity (PA) contributes to lower migraine risk, but it is unclear whether this association persists in the presence of obesity. This study evaluated whether PA relates to lower migraine risk among adults pursuing obesity treatment.

Methods

Adult patients pursuing surgical (n=228)/medical (n=326) obesity treatment completed the: (1) ID-Migraine screener, which asks about whether headaches limit activities and are accompanied by nausea and light sensitivity; and (2) Physical Activity Vital Sign, that identifies which patients are active according to national MVPA guidelines (i.e. >=150 MVPA minutes/week). Multivariate logistic regression assessed whether being active related to migraine risk, controlling for age, sex, race, and BMI.

Results

Of 554 participants (84.7% Female; 46.8+-13.3 years old; 40.6% Non-White race; BMI=40.1+-8.4 kg/m2), 152 (27.4%) screened positive for migraine. Participants reported 130.2+-152.2 MVPA minutes/week and 203 (36.6%) were classified as active. Active participants were 41% less likely to have migraine versus those who were inactive (OR=0.59, 95% CI: 0.39, 0.90, p=.015).

Conclusions

Active participants were less likely to have migraine, suggesting that performing recommended levels of PA might confer protection against migraine risk even in the presence of obesity. Additional research should evaluate the importance of both PA and weight loss for improving migraine after obesity treatments.