ORIGINAL RESEARCH Physical Activity is Associated with Less Analgesic Use in Women Reporting Headache—A Cross-Sectional Study of the German Migraine and Headache Society (DMKG) Britta Mu ¨ller . Charly Gaul . A ¨ nne Glass . Olaf Reis . Tim P. Ju ¨ rgens . Peter Kropp . Ruth Ruscheweyh . Andreas Straube . Elmar Bra ¨hler . Stefanie Fo ¨rderreuther . Thomas Dresler Received: November 8, 2021 / Accepted: February 2, 2022 Ó The Author(s) 2022 ABSTRACT Introduction: The aim of this analysis is to determine whether regular physical activity is associated with less analgesic use in men and women suffering from headache disorders based on population-based cross-sectional data. Methods: We used data from a random general population sample in Germany that comprised 2477 participants aged C 14 years. A standard- ized questionnaire addressing headache and headache treatment was filled in during the face-to-face survey. Results: Thirty-nine percent of the participants reported headache. Of these, 37.5% of men and 33.6% of women were physically active. Of the participants with headache, 43.3% reported taking analgesics on \ 2 days a month, 40.7% on 2–5 days a month, 10.1% on 6–10 days a month, and 5.9% on [ 10 days a month. Fre- quent headache, severe impact of headache on daily life, and depressive symptoms were asso- ciated with higher analgesic use in both men B. Mu ¨ller (&) Á P. Kropp Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, Rostock University Medical Center, Gehlsheimer Str. 20, 18147 Rostock, Germany e-mail: britta.mueller@med.uni-rostock.de C. Gaul Headache Center Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany A ¨ . Glass Institute for Biostatistics and Informatics in Medicine and Ageing Research, Rostock University Medical Center, Rostock, Germany O. Reis Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Rostock University Medical Center, Rostock, Germany T. P. Ju ¨rgens Department of Neurology, Rostock University Medical Center, Rostock, Germany R. Ruscheweyh Á A. Straube Á S. Fo ¨rderreuther Department of Neurology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany E. Bra ¨hler Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) Adiposity Diseases, Behavioral Medicine, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany E. Bra ¨hler Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany T. Dresler Department of Psychiatry & Psychotherapy, Tu ¨ bingen Center for Mental Health, University Hospital Tu ¨bingen, Tu ¨ bingen, Germany T. Dresler LEAD Graduate School & Research Network, University of Tu ¨bingen, Tu ¨ bingen, Germany Pain Ther https://doi.org/10.1007/s40122-022-00362-4