Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41437223›Full record

SynthesisThe journal of headache and pain2025

Risk factors associated to disability in primary headaches: a systematic review to inform future iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study.

Alberto Raggi, Matteo Castaldo, Chia-Chun Chiang, Soo Jin Cho, Min Kyung Chu, Adriana Della Pietra, Philip R Holland, Andreas Kattem Husøy, Alejandro Labastida-Ramírez, Ellina Lytvyak and 23 more

Abstract readSystematic ReviewReview
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 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing 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

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Observational
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. 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

33 authors.

Alberto RaggiNeurology, Public Health and Disability Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Celoria 11, 20133, Milan, Italy. alberto.raggi@istituto-besta.it.
Matteo CastaldoHeadache Centre, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.
Chia-Chun ChiangDepartment of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA.
Soo Jin ChoDepartment of Neurology, Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Hwaseong, Korea.
Min Kyung ChuDepartment of Neurology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Adriana Della PietraDepartment Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, US.
Philip R HollandHeadache Group, Wolfson Sensory Pain and Regeneration Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Andreas Kattem HusøyDepartment of Neuroscience and Movement Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim, Trondhei, Norway.
Alejandro Labastida-RamírezDivision of Neuroscience, Faculty of Biology, Medicine, and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Ellina LytvyakDivision of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Roberta MessinaNeurology Unit and Neuroimaging Research Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
Dilara OnanDepartment of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Yozgat Bozok University, Yozgat, Turkey.
Agnese OnofriDepartment of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
Raffaele OrnelloDepartment of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
Lanfranco PellesiClinical Pharmacology, Pharmacy and Environmental Medicine, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
Igor PetrušičLaboratory for Advanced Analysis of Neuroimages, Faculty of Physical Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Francesca PuleddaHeadache Group, Wolfson Sensory Pain and Regeneration Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Bianca RaffaelliDepartment of Neurology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Eloísa Rubio-BeltránHeadache Group, Wolfson Sensory Pain and Regeneration Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Ruth RuscheweyhDepartment of Neurology, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
Damiana ScuteriDepartment of Health Sciences, University "Magna Graecia" of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
Gabriele SebastianelliDepartment of Medico-Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome Polo Pontino, Latina, Italy.
Sebastian StraubeDivision of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Claudio TanaInternal Medicine Unit, Eastern Hospital, ASL Taranto, Taranto, Italy.
Doga VuralliDepartment of Neurology and Algology, Neuropsychiatry Center, Neuroscience and Neurotechnology Center of Excellence (NÖROM), Faculty of Medicine Gazi University , Ankara, Turkey.
Marta Waliszewska-ProsółDepartment of Neurology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland.
Wei WangHeadache Center, Department of Neurology, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
William Wells-GatnikTexas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, USA.
Yohannes W WoldeamanuelCircadian-Migraine Lab, Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Phoenix, USA.
Jr-Wei WuDepartment of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Sophie Merve YenerMigraine Foundation Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Barbara CorsoNeuroscience Institute, National Research Council (CNR), Padova, Italy.
Paolo MartellettiUnitelma Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHeadache disorders are prevalent and disabling conditions. Despite the recent introduction of modern therapies, a large portion of patients are still sub-optimally treated, resulting in a minor or no decrease in health loss nor disability. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study classifies 88 risk factors which impact several conditions, thus enabling the estimation of the potential health gain due to addressing these risk factors, but such analysis is not available for headache disorders yet.

objectiveTo address which risk factors, as intended by the taxonomy of the GBD study, are associated to disability in primary headaches.

methodsPrimary research studies addressing primary headache disorders and disability were searched in PubMed, Web of Science and SCOPUS, in the period between 2000 and 2025. The GBD taxonomy, which classifies risk factors into environmental and occupational, behavioural, and metabolic factors, was used. A descriptive analysis was employed to report the associations between disability measures and the presence/absence of specific risk factors, accounting for diagnoses and the age of patients.

resultsA total of 64 studies (97,846 patients) were included, and a total of 86 single associations were found. Metabolic risk factors (high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, and LDL cholesterol), and behavioural risk factors (low physical activity, inadequate dietary habits, tobacco smoking, and alcohol consumption) were the most frequently reported.

conclusionsOur results suggest that it is possible to address headache-related disability by acting on a set of modifiable factors, with interventions tailored to the specific needs of patients or addressing the exposed populations as a whole. In particular, targeting dietary aspects and exercise is reasonably expected to promote weight loss, and might have an impact on the reduction in fasting plasma glucose and LDL cholesterol, ultimately improving patients’ overall health status and reducing headache-related disability.

Indexed as

Global Burden of DiseaseHeadache Disorders, PrimaryPersons with DisabilitiesHumansRisk FactorsBMIDietary habitsFasting plasma glucoseHeadacheLDL cholesterolMigrainePhysical activity

Identifiers

PMID41437223
PMCPMC12776984

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.