ReviewCureus2026
Hormonal Contraceptives and Migraine Frequency and Severity in Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Review in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Migraines affect a substantial proportion of female migraineurs in a menstrual pattern, yet the relationship between hormonal contraceptive use and migraine outcomes remains unclear. No prior systematic review has comprehensively synthesized quantitative data on migraine frequency and severity in hormonal contraceptive users. We systematically searched multiple electronic databases for studies reporting quantitative migraine outcomes in women using hormonal contraceptives. Random-effects meta-analyses using standardized mean differences examined within-subject comparisons (hormone-free interval versus hormone phase) separately from between-group comparisons (users versus non-users). Several studies of varying designs and sample sizes were included. The overall pooled estimate for migraine frequency showed no significant effect, with substantial heterogeneity across studies. Subgroup analysis revealed significant effect modification by comparison type. Within-subject studies demonstrated a marked increase in migraine frequency during the hormone-free interval, whereas between-group comparisons showed no significant difference between contraceptive users and non-users. Acute medication use was also significantly elevated during the hormone-free interval. These findings indicate that the hormone-free interval, rather than hormonal contraceptive use per se, represents a period of heightened migraine burden. Substantial heterogeneity and observational designs limit causal inference, and randomized trials comparing contraceptive regimens are needed to establish definitive conclusions.
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