Relationship between alcohol and primary headaches: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Błaszczyk, Bartłomiej; Straburzyński, Marcin; Więckiewicz, Mieszko; Budrewicz, Sławomir; Niemiec, Piotr; Staszkiewicz, Martyna; Waliszewska-Prosół, Marta

doi:10.1186/s10194-023-01653-7

The Journal of Headache and Pain

Table 1 Features of the studies included in this paper. Abbreviations: ICHD – International Classification of Headache Disease, second and third versions; IHS – International Headache Society; TTH – tension-type headache

From: Relationship between alcohol and primary headaches: a systematic review and meta-analysis

No	Author	Country	Criteria to diagnose headache	Type of headache	Drinkers	Non-drinkers	Overall number of headache patients	Control group	Drinkers	Non-drinkers	Overall number of control patients	Methods used to assessment drinking	Criteria to recognize habits for alcohol consumption
1.	Lisicki M et al. [44]	International	ICHD-3	Migraine	20	39	59	Non-headache	30	47	77	Self-designed questionnaire	Frequency divided on: never, ≥ once a month, ≥ once a week and every day for wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages
2.	Schramm S et al. [45]	Germany	ICHD not reported the edition	Migraine	49	367	416	Non-headache	96	367	463	Questionnaire	Alcohol was assessed as the average consumption of different beverages (beer, red wine, white wine, spirits, and cocktails) within the last 4 weeks. The proportion of pure alcohol per beverage was calculated multiply by frequency of drinking. All beverages drinked by each person were summed up and presented as the total consumption of pure alcohol g/day
3.	Aamodt AH et al. [46]	Norway	IHS from 1988	Migraine	4012	2197	6209	Non-headache	30,421	14,749	45,170	Questionnaire	Abstinence, number of times per month and the number of glasses of beer, wine or liquor during the last 2 weeks
4.	Hagen K et al. [36]	Norway	ICHD-2	Migraine	24	65	89	Non-headache	967	1086	2053	Self-designed questionnaire	The participants were divided into four groups: no use, less than four times per month, four to seven times per month, or at least eight times per month
4.	Hagen K et al. [36]	Norway	ICHD-2	Tension type headache	749	52	801	Non-headache	11,680	1086	12,766	Self-designed questionnaire
5.	Misakian AL et al. [47]	International	Modified version of the IHS	Migraine	149	922	1071	Non-headache	1717	6839	8556	Self-designed questionnaire	Alcohol use was divided into 4 groups: never/rarely, 1–3 times/month, 1–6 times/week, daily
6.	Luo J [48]	United States of America	ICHD-3	Migraine	51	458	509	Non-headache	359	2278	2637	Questionnaire	Alcohol was divided into 2 groups: alcohol drinker (had any alcohol in the last 24 h) or non-drinker (lack of alcohol within last 24 h)
7.	Özcan RK et al. [49]	Turkey	ICHD-3 beta	Migraine	1	141	142	Non-headache	1	141	142	Questionnaire	Alcohol use was defined by identifying the quantity consumed in the last month
8.	Sarker MA et al. [50]	Bangladesh	IHS-2	Migraine	19	119	138	Non-headache	4	272	276	Questionnaire	The patients were asked about consuming any alcoholic drink in the last 2 weeks
9.	Le H et al. [51]	Denmark	IHS	Migraine	5744	2200	7944	Non-headache	19,073	4431	23,504	Questionnaire	Alcohol consumption was divided into 3 groups: never/seldom, monthly, weekly
10.	Schramm SH et al. [52]	Germany	ICHD-2	Migraine	2	722	724	Non-headache	6	1068	1074	Questionnaire	2 groups were distinguished: drinking (yes) was defined as daily or almost daily drinking of alcoholic beverages and drinking (no) was defined as no or casual drinking of alcoholic beverages
10.	Schramm SH et al. [52]	Germany	ICHD-2	Tension type headache	11	1544	1555	Non-headache	6	1023	1029	Questionnaire
11.	Kim BS et al. [53]	Korea	ICHD-3	Migraine	3	48	51	Non-headache	23	79	102	Questionnaire + interview	Alcohol drinking was positive if regular drinking were once a week
12.	Gür-Özmen S et al. [54]	Turkey	ICHD-2	Migraine	4	166	170	Non-headache	1	169	170	Questionnaire	The mean daily alcohol intake was calculated using the beverage-specific quantity-frequency measure: number of days with alcohol consumption (beer, wine, and spirits)mean daily alcohol consumption over the past week. Amount of wine and beer in liters and spirits in glasses was assessed and calculated in grams per day
12.	Gür-Özmen S et al. [54]	Turkey	ICHD-2	Tension type headache	0	170	170	Non-headache	1	169	170	Questionnaire
13.	Yoon MS et al. [55]	Germany	ICHD-2	Migraine	320	4244	4564	Non-headache	555	3086	3641	Questionnaire	Alcohol was assessed by drinking daily and not daily alcohol consumption
13.	Yoon MS et al. [55]	Germany	ICHD-2	Tension type headache	126	1107	1233	Non-headache	555	3086	3641	Questionnaire
14.	Kaltseis K et al. [26]	International	ICHD-3	Migraine	154	31	185	Non-headache	729	222	951	Interview	Alcohol intake was divided into 2 groups: drinkers and non-drinkers. Drinkers positively answer the question whether drinked alcohol last week and disclose the type, amount, and frequency of the consumed beverages. Then, the alcohol consumption was calculated using the formula: amount of alcohol beverage in milliliters Vol% 100 0:8 ¼ alcohol in grams:
14.	Kaltseis K et al. [26]	International	ICHD-3	Tension type headache	479	78	557	Non-headache	729	222	951	Interview
15.	Pellegrino Baena C et al. [56]	Brasil	IHS	Migraine	179	1060	1239	Non-headache	1096	131	1227	Questionnaire	Alcohol use was defined as never, former or present. Whereby never was assumed as non-drinkers, the rest of participants (former, present) were assumed as drinkers
16.	McMurtray AM et al. [57]	United States of America	ICHD-2	Migraine	2	22	24	Non-headache	7	7	14	Questionnaire	Alcohol use was defined as none, past or current. Whereby none was assumed as non-drinkers, the rest of participants (past, current) were assumed as drinkers
16.	McMurtray AM et al. [57]	United States of America	ICHD-2	Tension type headache	2	19	21	Non-headache	7	7	14	Questionnaire
17.	Lebedeva ER et al. [27]	International	ICHD-3	Migraine	129	367	496	Non-headache	282	732	1014	Interview	Alcohol intake was divided into consumption of light alcoholic beverages (at least 0.5 L per week) and strong alcoholic beverages (150 g per week)
17.	Lebedeva ER et al. [27]	International	ICHD-3	Tension type headache	639	1196	1835	Non-headache	282	732	1014	Interview
18.	Schramm SH et al. [58]	German	ICHD-2	Migraine	114	1564	1678	Non-headache	555	3086	3641	Questionnaire	Alcohol was assessed by drinking daily and not daily alcohol consumption
18.	Schramm SH et al. [58]	German	ICHD-2	Tension type headache	11	1587	1598	Non-headache	555	3086	3641	Questionnaire
19.	Scher AI et al. [59]	Netherland	IHS	Migraine	304	316	620	Non-headache	3235	1900	5135	Questionnaire	Alcohol consumption was categorized as 0, < 1, 1 to 3 and + 4 drinks per day
20.	Rasmussen BK [60]	Denmark	IHS	Tension type headache	53	114	167	Non-tension type headache (migraine)	38	81	119	Interview	Alcohol intake was recorded as number of drinks (beers. glasses of wine. and glasses of strong alcohol) per week (1 drink = 10 g of alcohol)
21.	Lund N et al. [61]	Denmark	ICHD-2	Cluster headache	242	157	397	Non-headache	179	21	200	Questionnaire + interview	Alcohol intake was positive if participants had reported any intake of alcohol per week during the past year
22.	Lambru G et al. [62]	Italy	ICHD-2	Cluster headache	149	51	200	Non-cluster headache (migraine)	113	87	200	Questionnaire	Alcohol consumption, measured in alcohol units per day and if there was positive intake the division on: mild drinkers, < 4 units/day; moderate drinkers, 4–8 units/day; heavy drinkers, > 8 units/day was conducted

Back to article page

ISSN: 1129-2377

Contact us

Submission enquiries: journalsubmissions@springernature.com