Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neuroepidemiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1483748

Association of ovulation and reproductive function with migraine: a cross-sectional study of NHANES 1999-2004

Provisionally accepted
Guanglu Li Guanglu Li 1Lei Liu Lei Liu 2*Zun-Jing Liu Zun-Jing Liu 3*
  • 1 Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
  • 2 China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 3 Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background Migraine has a significant prevalence in reproductive-age women. The association between ovulation, reproductive function and the risk of migraine remain largely unclear. We conducted this analysis to explore the relationship between ovulation (age at menarche, age at natural menopause, and reproductive lifespan), reproductive function (age at first live birth, age at last live birth, and number of live births), and migraine risk. Methods This observational study used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 1999 and 2004, providing detailed information on their ovulation, reproductive function as well as their history of severe headaches or migraines. We employed weighted multivariate logistic regression analyses to find the independent association between ovulation, reproductive function and migraine. Results In fully adjusted models, a later age at first live birth was associated with a decreased risk of migraine (OR: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.92-0.96). Migraine risk decreased to the lowest when the age at first live birth was 29 years. Subgroup analysis and interaction tests indicated a similar association. We found a negative association between age at menarche and migraine risk, however, it became insignificant after full adjustment of the model. In addition, our study revealed that age at natural menopause, years of ovulation, age at last live birth and number of live births were not associated with migraine risk. Conclusions Our findings indicate an inverse association between age at first live birth and migraine in Americans women. Women with a first live birth at age 29 years may have the lowest risk of migraine. However, given the limitations of the retrospective study design, clinicians should avoid over-interpreting the findings of current study and apply them in a relatively conservative manner. Current findings need to be verified in more large-scale prospective studies.

    Keywords: Migraine, Ovulation function, reproductive function, NHANES, Headache

    Received: 20 Aug 2024; Accepted: 15 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Li, Liu and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Lei Liu, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, 100029, Beijing Municipality, China
    Zun-Jing Liu, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, 100044, Beijing Municipality, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.