Physical-Mental Comorbidity of Pediatric Migraine in the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the associations between headaches and migraine with physical and mental disorders in a large pediatric registry.

STUDY DESIGN

In total, 9329 youth aged 8-21 years from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort were included. Physical conditions, including headache, were ascertained from electronic medical records and in-person interviews. Modified International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-II) criteria were used to classify migraine symptoms. Forty-two other physical conditions were classified into 14 classes of medical disorders. Mental disorders were assessed using an abbreviated version of the Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia.

RESULTS

Lifetime prevalence of any headache was 45.5%, and of migraine was 22.6%. Any headache was associated with a broad range of physical disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (OR 1.2 [95% CI 1.1-1.4]), and behavior disorders (1.3 [1.1-1.5]). Youth with migraine had greater odds of specific physical conditions and mental disorders, including respiratory, neurologic/central nervous system, developmental, anxiety, behavior, and mood disorders than those with nonmigraine headache (OR ranged from 1.3 to 1.9).

CONCLUSIONS

Comorbidity between headaches with a range of physical conditions that have been associated with adult migraine demonstrates that multimorbidity occurs early in development. Comorbidity may be an important index of heterogeneity of migraine that can guide clinical management, genetic investigation, and future research on shared pathophysiology with other disorders.