Premium
Association between eating disorders and migraine may be explained by major depression
Author(s) -
Mustelin Linda,
Raevuori Anu,
Kaprio Jaakko,
KeskiRahkonen Anna
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/eat.22311
Subject(s) - eating disorders , migraine , bulimia nervosa , major depressive disorder , psychiatry , depression (economics) , cohort , anorexia nervosa , odds ratio , psychology , twin study , population , comorbidity , disordered eating , medicine , clinical psychology , mood , genetics , environmental health , heritability , biology , economics , macroeconomics
Objective The association between eating disorders and migraine remains unclear. Method We identified women with lifetime diagnoses of anorexia nervosa (AN) ( N = 55) and bulimia nervosa (BN) (N = 60) and their co‐twins from the FinnTwin16 cohort born in 1975–1979 ( N = 2,825 women). Eating disorder and major depressive disorder (MDD) diagnoses were obtained from clinical interviews and data on migraine by self‐report questionnaire. The women with eating disorders were compared with their unaffected co‐twins and with unrelated women from the same birth cohorts. Results The prevalence of migraine was 12% in the general female population, but 22% for both AN and BN (odds ratio 2.0, p = .04). The prevalence of MDD was high in women with an eating disorder (42%). MDD was strongly associated with migraine (odds ratio 3.0, p < .0001) and explained the association between eating disorders and migraine. The highest migraine prevalence (36%) was found in women with both an eating disorder and MDD. Pairwise twin analyses also supported the clustering of migraine, MDD and eating disorders. Discussion Women with a lifetime diagnosis of an eating disorder were twice as likely to report a history of migraine as unrelated women from the same cohort; this relationship was explained by comorbid MDD. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (Int J Eat Disord 2014; 47:884–887)