SynthesisThe journal of headache and pain2018
Headache disorder and the risk of dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.
Synthesis in The journal of headache and pain, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Chronic Pain and the Risk of Dementia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Current pain and headache reports · 2026Pooled it
- Migraine is a risk factor for dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Pooled it
- Is headache a risk factor for dementia? A systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Pooled it
- Migraine, Tension-Type Headache and Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Pooled it
- Migraine and the risk of dementia: a meta-analysis and systematic review.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2022Pooled it
- Association of Headache Disorders and the Risk of Dementia: Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Evidence for Cognitive Decline in Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Orofacial pain and dementia: a brief narrative review of associations, putative mechanisms, and relevant clinical considerations.Odontology · 2026Review
- Migraine and the Risk of Dementia in the General Population.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Headache associated with adverse cognitive trajectories in Chinese aging cohort: a group-based trajectory modeling study.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Article
- Exposures and conditions prior to age 16 are associated with incidence of dementia status among adults in the United States Health and Retirement Study.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2025Article
- Independent causal effect of migraines on Alzheimer's disease risk: a multivariate Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- Prevalence of dementia and its association with central nervous system infections among older persons in northern Uganda: cross-sectional community-based study.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- Association between migraine and Alzheimer's disease: a nationwide cohort study.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Article
- Increased risk of all-cause, Alzheimer's, and vascular dementia in adults with migraine in Korea: a population-based cohort study.The journal of headache and pain · 2022Article
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- Utilizing apolipoprotein E genotypes and associated comorbidities for the assessment of the risk for dementia.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Article
- Mid- and Late-Life Migraine Is Associated with an Increased Risk of All-Cause Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease, but Not Vascular Dementia: A Nationwide Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of personalized medicine · 2021Article
- White matter hyperintensity in different migraine subtypes.Scientific reports · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUntil now, headache disorders have not been established as a risk factor for dementia. The aim of this study was to determine whether headache was associated with an increased risk of dementia.
methodsWe systematically searched electronic databases, including PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, for studies investigating the association between headache and dementia. We then conducted a meta-analysis to determine a pooled-effect estimate of the association.
resultsWe identified 6 studies (covering 291,549 individuals) to investigate the association between headache and the risk of all-cause dementia or Alzheimer's disease (AD). Pooled analyses showed that any headache was associated with a 24% greater risk of all-cause dementia (relative risk [RR] = 1.24; 95% confidential interval [CI]: 1.09-1.41; P = 0.001), and that any headache was not statistically significantly associated with an increased risk of AD (RR = 1.47; 95% CI: 0.82-2.63; P = 0.192).
conclusionsOur results indicated that any headache was associated with an increased risk of all-cause dementia. However, additional studies are warranted to further confirm and understand the association.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.