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. 2025 Jan 3;20(1):e0313082.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313082. eCollection 2025.

Association between serum vitamin D and severe headache or migraine: A population-based analysis

Shunfa Hao  1   2 , Renyi Qian  1 , Yiru Chen  1   2 , Jingfang Liu  1   2 , Xiaoyan Xu  1 , Yunxiang Guan  1
Affiliations

Association between serum vitamin D and severe headache or migraine: A population-based analysis

Shunfa Hao et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Vitamin D is thought to play a role in the development of migraine, but the nature of the relationship is still not fully understood. Although some studies have shown an association between vitamin D deficiency and migraine, other studies have had inconsistent or inconclusive results. Therefore, further research is needed to better understand the relationship between vitamin D and migraine headaches.

Methods: We selected 9142 participants from the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). In our study, the term "serum vitamin D" refers to the concentration of 25OHD2 + 25OHD3 (nmol/L) in the blood. Migraine was assessed based on self-reports in the miscellaneous pain section of the NHANES questionnaire. Associations between vitamin D and the risk of migraine were examined using multiple logistic regression, smoothed curve fitting, and stratified analyses.

Results: In our study, 20.53% of the participants suffered from migraine. The prevalence of migraine was higher in those with lower serum vitamin D levels. Participants in the highest quartile of serum vitamin D levels were found to have a 16% lower prevalence than those in the lowest quartile in the fully adjusted model (OR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.71-0.99). This result was supported by stratified analysis and smoothed curve fitting.

Conclusion: Our study showed a significant negative correlation between serum vitamin D levels and the prevalence of migraine in American adults.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. The flow chart of the selection of included studies.
Fig 2
Fig 2. The associations between serum vitamin D and Migraine were stratified by age, gender, race, body mass index, PIR, and stroke.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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