Association between tension-type headache and migraine with sleep bruxism: a systematic review

To evaluate the association between tension-type headache and migraine with sleep bruxism (SB).

The association between SB and headaches has been discussed in both children and adults. Although several studies suggested a possible association, no systematic analysis of the available published studies exists to evaluate the quantity, quality, and risk of bias among those studies.

A systematic review was undertaken, including articles that classified the headaches according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders and SB according to the criteria of the American Association of Sleep Medicine. Only articles in which the objective was to investigate the association between primary headaches (tension-type and migraine) and SB were selected. Detailed individual search strategies for The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, and LILACS were developed. The reference lists from selected articles were also checked. A partial grey literature search was taken by using Google Scholar. The methodology of selected studies was evaluated using the quality in prognosis studies tool.

Of 449 identified citations, only 2 studies, both studying adults, fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The presence of SB significantly increased the odds (study 1: odds ratio [OR] 3.12 [1.25-7.7] and study 2: OR 3.8; 1.83-7.84) for headaches, although studies reported different headache type.

There is not enough scientific evidence to either support or refute the association between tension-type headache and migraine with SB in children. Adults with SB appear to be more likely to have headache.