Association of Migraine and Sleep-Related Breathing Disorder: A Population-Based Cohort Study

In this nationwide population-based cohort study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of sleep-related breathing disorders (SBD) on migraine development. Patients ages 20 years or more and diagnosed with SBD between 2000 and 2009 were evaluated as the SBD cohort (n = 3411), and compared with comparison cohort (n = 13,644). The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) for developing migraine was calculated in both cohorts by multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. The cumulative incidence of migraine was significantly higher in the SBD cohort than in the comparison cohort. In the SBD cohort, the overall aHR for developing migraine was 2.43 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.72–3.44). The risk of developing migraine was higher in men (aHR 2.71) than in women (aHR 2.29) with SBD. When stratifying by age, we observed increased incidence of migraine in patients ages 20 to 44 years and 45 to 64 years, with a higher aHR of 2.51 (95% CI = 1.47–4.30) and 2.68 (95% CI = 1.63–4.43), respectively. The risk of developing migraine in the patients with SBD with or without comorbidity exhibited nonsignificant differences. After stratifying by the use of hypnotics, the aHR for developing migraine was 2.39 in the patients with hypnotics use and 3.58 in the patients without hypnotics use. Our findings indicate increased risk of developing migraine in adults, but not elderly ones, with SBD.