Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40481389›Full record

SynthesisThe journal of headache and pain2025

Migraine is a risk factor for dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.

Wenyan Zhu, Yijun Zhan, Jian Pei, Qinhui Fu, Ruiqi Wang, Qianwen Yang, Qingyang Guan, Like Zhu

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The journal of headache and pain, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Migraine and the Risk of Dementia in the General Population.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Wenyan Zhu *Department of Acupuncture, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Yijun Zhan *Department of Acupuncture, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Jian PeiDepartment of Acupuncture, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China. longhuaacup@aliyun.com.
Qinhui FuInternational Education college, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Ruiqi WangDepartment of Acupuncture, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Qianwen YangDepartment of Acupuncture, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Qingyang GuanDepartment of Acupuncture, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Like ZhuDepartment of Acupuncture, Longhua Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.

Funding

the Key Scientific Research Program of Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Committee 23Y11921000 and 22Y11922900
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMigraine affects more than one billion people worldwide, and there is growing concern about the burden of migraine. Migraine affects cognitive function during an attack, but reports are inconsistent on whether the effect of migraine on cognitive function persists and increases the risk of developing dementia. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine whether migraine is a risk factor for dementia.

methodsWe searched six databases and included cohort studies with participants without dementia and with migraine at baseline, the outcome of interest was the risk of dementia, expressed in adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Subgroup analyses and meta-regression were used to explore the sources of heterogeneity.

resultsA total of 11 cohort studies containing 6,964,353 participants were included. Migraine increased the risk of all-cause dementia (HR = 1.26; 95% CI = 1.09–1.46), AD (HR = 1.32; 95% CI = 1.26–1.38), and VaD (HR = 1.28; 95% CI = 1.24–1.32). Subgroup analyses revealed migraine with aura had an increased risk of all-cause dementia compared to migraine without aura. The pooled results showed that migraine significantly increase the risk of all-cause dementia in studies with high quality and studies with sample sizes more than 2000. The results of meta-regression analyses revealed that region, migraine type, diagnostic criteria for dementia, gender, Newcastle-Ottawa Scale score, sample size, controls and mean follow-up time were not significant sources of study heterogeneity.

conclusionsThis meta-analysis suggest migraine as a risk factor for dementia. Due to significant heterogeneity between studies, residual confounding factors and bias, the results should be cautiously interpreted.

Indexed as

DementiaMigraine DisordersCohort StudiesHumansRisk FactorsAlzheimer's diseaseDementiaMeta-analysisMigraineVascular dementia

Identifiers

PMID40481389
PMCPMC12143087

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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.