MedWire News: Migraine patients are significantly more likely to experience sleep problems than people without such headaches, and such problems are not solely related to the presence of anxiety and/or depression, researchers have found.

"A consistent association between migraine and sleep complaints has been reported in community and clinical studies," explain Dr Kathleen Merikangas and colleagues from the National Institutes of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

"However, anxiety and depression are often comorbid [co-occurring] with migraine," they add. "Thus, it may be possible that the increased prevalence of sleep problems in migraineurs is attributable to comorbid anxiety and depression."

To investigate, the researchers studied 41 patients who suffered from regular migraines and 221 participants without such headaches. The team also interviewed 261 first-degree relatives of the participants, including 39 who suffered from migraines.

Analysis revealed that participants with migraines were more than twice as likely to suffer from sleep problems as their headache-free counterparts.

Specifically, participants who suffered from migraines were 2.5 times more likely not to get enough sleep, 3.0 times more likely to experience difficulty falling asleep and 4.3 times more likely to suffer from persistent nightmares compared with those who did not suffer from such headaches.

The link between migraine headaches and sleep problems remained after accounting for the presence of anxiety and depression, the researchers note in the journal Headache.

Dr Merikangas and team conclude: "This study confirms prior reports of a strong association between migraine and sleep difficulties, with an approximately 3-fold increase in sleep problems among those with migraine.

"These findings contribute to current knowledge by demonstrating that the associations between migraine and sleep problems are not solely attributable to either current or lifetime comorbid anxiety and depression."

They add: "The finding that relatives with migraine reported the same current sleep complaints as [patients] with migraine suggests that there may be a direct association between sleep disturbances and migraine."