For People with Migraine, Neck Pain is Associated with Greater Disease Burden

People with migraine who experience neck pain during or before headache reported more severe disease burden, according to results of a prospective, cross-sectional, web-based study. The findings, which were presented at the 18th annual European Headache Congress, may have implications for headache care, as 77% of people with migraine experience neck pain during, or as a prodromal symptom of headache.

The multinational Chronic Migraine Epidemiology and Outcomes International (CaMEO-I) study was conducted from 2021 to 2022 and included 14,492 respondents with migraine. Researchers separated participants into 2 groups based on their responses: those who experience neck pain with headache (NPWH; n=9896) and those who do not experience NPWH (n=4596). Migraine disease burden was evaluated based on participant-reported outcomes. Associations between disease burden and NPWH were assessed and adjusted for monthly migraine headache day (MHD) frequency.

Migraine features, self-reported migraine diagnosis, moderate-to-severe disability, anxiety symptoms, depression symptoms, allodynia, and impacts on quality of life were significantly more prevalent for the NPWH group compared with the non-NPWH group across most MHD categories. After adjusting for MHD category, people with migraine with NPWH had significantly higher odds of:

• Self-reported migraine diagnosis, with an adjusted odds ratio [OR] of 1.37 (95% CI, 1.19 to 1.58; P<.001)
• Allodynia, with an OR of 1.96 (95% CI, 1.69 to 2.27; P<.001)
• Moderate-to-severe disability, with an OR of 2.41 (95% CI, 2.03 to 2.86; P<.001)
• Anxiety symptoms, with an OR of 1.70 (95% CI, 1.45 to 1.98; P<.001)
• Depression symptoms, with an OR of 1.64 (95% CI, 1.40 to 1.91; P<.001)