Prevalent migraine as a predictor of incident hypertension.

BACKGROUND: Migraine has been associated with several diseases. This population-based prospective Finnish postal survey Health and Social Support Study explored whether self-reported migraine predicted incident hypertension independently in a working-age population by utilizing two data sources: the baseline survey from the year 1998 in combination with the follow-up survey data from the years 2003 and 2012 with linkage to the national Social Insurance Institution registry data of the special reimbursement medication for hypertension from 1999 to 2013. The survey follow-up reached until the second follow-up in the year 2012. The register follow-up also included the year 2013. METHODS: The present population-based prospective cohort study, utilizing two different data sources, included 8593 respondents (22.7% response rate) who participated in 1998, 2003, and 2012 but who did not report hypertension at the baseline in 1998, and whose responses could be linked with the Social Insurance Institution registry data from the beginning of 1999 to the end of 2013. The multivariable logistic regression analysis was based on the combined two data sets. RESULTS: A significant association of self-reported migraine and incident hypertension (odds ratio 1.37; 95% confidence interval 1.20-1.57) prevailed in the multiple logistic regression analysis adjusted for central socio-demographic and health behaviour variables. CONCLUSION: Extra attention should be paid to prevention and control of hypertension in working-age migraine patients.

Migraine predicts hypertension--a cohort study of the Finnish working-age population.

BACKGROUND: Migraine has been suggested to be associated with hypertension. The aim of the present 5-year prospective cohort study was to examine whether self-reported migraine in 1998 predicted hypertension in 2003 in a Finnish working-age population. METHODS: This cohort study consisted of 13 454 randomly selected initially non-hypertensive working-age participants of the prospective postal survey of the Health and Social Support. A total of 13 426 responses of the initial participants were linked with the register data of the Social Insurance Institution on the special reimbursement medication for hypertension. The outcome variable, hypertension, was determined according to the survey data and the register data of the Social Insurance Institution. The statistical analysis was carried out using logistic regression. RESULTS: In a multivariate model adjusted for gender, age, occupational training, living alone, metabolic equivalent of task, body mass index and alcohol consumption, self-reported migraine predicted hypertension (odds ratio 1.39; 95% confidence interval 1.19-1.64) for the self-reported and (odds ratio 1.42; 95% confidence interval 1.13-1.77) for the register data of the Social Insurance Institution. CONCLUSION: The findings may indicate a focus on hypertension screening for the working-age population with migraine.