Association of Migraine With Incident Hypertension After Menopause: A Longitudinal Cohort Study

Migraine has been identified as a potential risk factor for hypertension in prospective studies. In women, migraine prevalence decreases after menopause, but no studies have determined whether migraine is associated with hypertension after menopause. This study sought to determine whether history of migraine was associated with an increased risk of hypertension among menopausal women.

We assessed associations between migraine and hypertension in a longitudinal cohort study of 56,202 menopausal women participating in the French E3N cohort, with follow-up beginning in 1993. We included women who did not have hypertension or cardiovascular disease at the time of menopause. Migraine was classified as ever or never at each questionnaire cycle. Cox proportional hazards models were used to investigate relations between migraine and hypertension, controlling for potential confounding. A secondary analysis with baseline in 2011 considered aura status, grouping participants reporting migraine as migraine with aura, migraine without aura, or unknown migraine type.

During 826,419 person-years, 12,501 cases of incident hypertension were identified, including 3,100 among women with migraine and 9,401 among women without migraine. Migraine was associated with an increased risk of hypertension in menopausal women (hazard ratio [HR]_migraine 1.29 [95% confidence interval 1.24, 1.35]) and was consistent in post hoc sensitivity analyses, such as when controlling for common migraine medications. Associations between migraine and hypertension were similar whether or not women reported aura (HR_{migraine aura} 1.54 [1.04, 2.30], HR_{migraine no aura} 1.32 [0.87, 2.02], p heterogeneity 0.60). Associations were slightly stronger among ever users of menopausal hormone therapy (HR_migraine 1.34 [1.27, 1.41]) than among never users (HR_migraine 1.19 [1.11, 1.28]).

Migraine was associated with an increased risk of hypertension among menopausal women. In secondary analysis, we did not observe a significant difference between migraine with aura and migraine without aura.