Table 2 Study and patient characteristics
| Study | Location | Study type* | Follow-up period (weeks) |
Patients (n) |
Age (mean \(\pm\)SD years) | Female/-male ratio | Monthly headache days |
Comorbidities (n) | Medication use (n) |
Period (C, S, W) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alstadhaug et al. 2005 [3] | Norway | Questionnaire, retrospective | NA |
MA (98) MO (71) |
MA: 34.1\(\pm\)7.2 MO: 32.5 \(\pm\)8.3 | 1:0 | EM | PCOS (1), depression (2), hypothyroidism (6), asthma and/or allergy (16), hypertension, psoriasis, fibromyalgia and vitiligo | OC (33) | C, S |
| Alstadhaug et al. 2007 [25] | Norway | Diary, prospective | 52 |
MA (50) MO (34) | 35.6 \(\pm\)6.8 | 1:0 | EM | No concomitant serious disorder | NR | W |
| Alstadhaug et al. 2007 [26] | Norway | Diary, prospective | 52 |
MA (50) MO (34) | 35.6\(\pm\)6.8 | 1:0 | EM | No concomitant serious disorder | OC (10), beta-blockers (7) | C |
| Alstadhaug et al. 2007 [27] | Norway | Diary, prospective | 52 |
MA (32) MO (26) | 36.9\(\pm\)6.0 | 1:0 | EM | No concomitant serious disorder | NR | S |
| Bekkelund et al. 2017 [16] | Norway | Questionnaire, retrospective | NA |
MA (106) MO (196) | 35.5\(\pm\)12.6 | 3.6:1 |
Monthly migraine days: 0–7 (69), 8–14 (66), ≥15 (166) | Insomnia (95), hypertension (21), chronic neck/shoulder pain (149) | Preventive medication (49), triptans (150), over-the-counter painkillers (267), prescribed painkillers (85) | S |
| Brewerton et al. 1990 [35] | USA | ED, retrospective | 1044 | MX (214) | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | S |
| Bruni et al. 2004 [17] | Italy | Diary, prospective | 2 | MO (18) | 9.8\(\pm\)1.2 | 0.8:1 | EM | No concomitant serious disorder | NR | C |
| Caperell et al. 2014 [36] | USA | ED, retrospective | 130 | MX (876) |
Males: 12.9\(\pm\)3.1 Females: 13.9\(\pm\)3.0 | 1.8:1 | NR | NR | NR | S |
| Cugini et al. 1990 [47] | Italy | Diary, prospective | 52 | MX (30) |
Range: 17–37 | 1:1 | NR | NR | NR | S, W |
| de Tommaso et al. 2018 [5] | Italy | Diary, prospective | 12 |
MO (538) MO + MA (52) CM (196) |
MO: 37.4\(\pm\)12.5 MO + MA: 34.6\(\pm\)13.5 CM: 42.5\(\pm\)14.7 | 4.0:1 |
MO (mean\(\pm\)SD): 7.6\(\pm\)6.4 CM (mean\(\pm\)SD): 23.4\(\pm\)14.8 MO + MA (mean\(\pm\)SD): 7.7\(\pm\)6.9 | Excluded patients with general medical and/or other neurological or psychiatric diseases | No CNS-active drugs or preventive migraine medication | C |
| Drescher et al. 2019 [31] | Austria, Germany and Switzerland | Diary, prospective | ≥ 13 | MX (1085) | 43.0\(\pm\)12.6 | 4.1:1 | EM | NR | NR | W |
| Gomersall et al. 1973 [18] | Scotland and England | Diary, prospective | 26–52 |
MA (56) MO (30) HM (1) | Range: 11–70 | 3.7:1 | NR | NR | NR | S, W |
| Gori et al. 2005 [39] | Italy | Diary, prospective | 12 | MX (100) | 38.6\(\pm\)10.4 | NR | NR | NR | NR | C |
| Hoffmann et al. 2010 [19] | Germany | Diary, prospective | 52 |
MA (4) MO (16) | Range: 18–65 | 3:1 | EM | No other headaches | Preventive medication | C, S, W |
| Hoffmann et al. 2014 [40] | Germany | Diary, prospective | 52 | MX (100) | Range: 18–65 | NR | NR | NR | Preventive medication | C, S, W |
| Kelman 2006 [32] | USA | Questionnaire, retrospective | NA | MO and MA** (1283) |
37.7\(\pm\)12 Range: 13-80.5 | 5.4:1 |
EM CM | No headaches related to trauma/injury or complicated neurological problems | Preventive medication (269) | C |
| Kimoto et al. 2011 [20] | Japan | Diary, prospective | 52 |
MA (9) MO (19) | NR | 13:2 | NR | Hyperlipidemia (3), hypertension (2) | NR | S |
| Knezevic-Pogancev 2006 [43] | Serbia and Montenegro | Questionnaire, retrospective | NA | MX (2644) | Range: 3–17 | 1.3:1 | NR | NR | NR | C |
| Lilleng et al. 2009 [21] | Norway | Questionnaire, retrospective | NA |
MA (28) MO (60) | 40.4\(\pm\)11.2 | 1.8:1 | NR | No concomitant neurological disorders | NR | S |
| Marrelli et al. 1988 [41] | Italy | Questionnaire, retrospective | NA | MX and TTH*** (495) | 35.8\(\pm\)12.9 | NR | NR | No cluster headache or symptomatic headaches | NR | S |
| Morrison 1990 [28] | Sweden | Diary, prospective | 6 |
MA (18) MO (17) | 41.1 | 1:0 | Migraine attacks/6 weeks: 3.5 | NR | Preventive medication (17), antidepressant (3), combined preparation with ergotamine (6), combined preparation without ergotamine (6) | W |
| Osterman et al. 1981 [45] | Sweden | Diary, prospective | 4 | MX (53) | 40 | 3.4:1 | NR | NR | No preventive medication | W |
| Park et al. 2017 [22] | South Korea | Diary, prospective | 13 |
MA (1) MO (81) | 37.4\(\pm 8.3\) | 5.3:1 | 6.5\(\pm\)5.3 (mean\(\pm\)SD) | No headaches attributed to secondary causes | Preventive treatment (36) | C |
| Robbins 1994 [37] | USA | Questionnaire, retrospective | NA | MX (494) | Range: 18–60 | 3.9:1 | NR | NR | NR | S |
| Salvesen et al. 2000 [52] | Norway | Questionnaire, retrospective | NA | MX (289) |
40.2 Range: 10–89 | 3.7:1 | NR | NR | NR | S |
| Shin et al. 2015 [23] | South Korea | Questionnaire, retrospective | NA | MO (769) | 48.2 \(\pm\)12.8 | 4.4:1 | EM | NR | NR | C |
| Soriani et al. 2006 [24] | Italy | Diary, prospective | 52 | MO (115) |
Males: 9.99\(\pm\)2.6 Females: 10.2\(\pm\)2.6 Range: 5–18 | 0.9:1 | NR | NR | No preventive medication that could have modified the rhythm of symptoms | C, S |
| Szyszkowicz et al. 2009 [38] | Canada | ED, retrospective | NR | MX (64,839) | NR | 3.5:1 | NR | NR | NR | S |
| Timothy et al. 2011 [34] | Nigeria | Questionnaire, retrospective | NA | MX (100) |
Females: 32.5\(\pm\)9.9 Males: 31.8\(\pm\)10.1 | 2.6:1 | NR | No pregnancy or clinical evidence of an organic disease known to cause migraine | Sumatriptan, dihydroergotamine + caffeine and preventive medication | S |
| Van Oosterhout et al. 2017 [44] | The Netherlands | Questionnaire, retrospective | NA | MX (2389) |
45.1\(\pm\)11.7 Range: 18–74 | 6.0:1 | NR | Lifetime depression (970) | NR | C |
| Vgontzas et al. 2020 [29] | USA | Diary, prospective | 6 | MX (98) | 35\(\pm\)12 | 7.2:1 | 5.0\(\pm\)3.6 (mean\(\pm\)SD) | NR | Preventive medication (26) | C |
| Villeneuve et al. 2006 [33] | Canada | ED, retrospective | 417 | MX (4039) | NR | 2.9:1 | NR | NR | NR | S |
| Wilkinson et al. 1979 [42] | England | Questionnaire, retrospective | NA |
MX (310) Control group MX (100) | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | C, S, W |
| Yang et al. 2015 [30] | Taiwan | Diary, prospective | ≥ 28 |
MX (63) Probable migraine (3)**** | 43.3\(\pm\)12.9 | 3.1:1 | 6.3\(\pm\)6.2 (mean\(\pm\)SD) | Hypertension (2), diabetes (6) | Propranolol (40), anticonvulsants (20), flunarizine (13), antidepressant (12) | S |
| Yilmaz et al. 2015 [46] | Turkey | ED, retrospective | 52 | MX (3491) | 36\(\pm 11\) | 2.6:1 | NR | No other diseases causing headache | NR | S, W |