Comorbidity between depressive symptoms and migraine: preliminary data from the Zabút Aging Project

We evaluated the association between depressive symptoms and migraine using cross-sectional data from the Zabút Aging Project, a population-based study including subjects aged > or =50 years. A total of 1285 nonmigraineurs and 151 migraineurs were included. Diagnosis of migraine was carried out using the criteria of the International Headache Society. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D) was used to score depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms were clustered in four groups: depressed and positive affects, somatic activity and intrapersonal feelings. Migraineurs showed higher total and specific depressive symptoms than controls (p from 0.005 to <0.0001). Mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms (CES-D score of > or =16) were present in 47.2% of migraineurs compared to 15.8% of controls (p<0.0001). After adjustment for demographics, mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms were strongly associated with migraine (OR [95% CI]=4.7 [3.1-7.0]). This association significantly increased in males (OR [95% CI]=6.2 [2.8-14.6]). Depressive features represent highly frequent comorbid symptoms of adult-to-elderly migraineurs.