Research Article
Implication of High Body Fat Percentage on Migraine
Chronification in Premenopausal Females
Pooja Ojha
1
and Varun Malhotra
2
1
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
2
Era’s Lucknow Medical College, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
Correspondence should be addressed to Pooja Ojha; drpojha@gmail.com
Received 18 May 2022; Revised 10 August 2022; Accepted 29 September 2022; Published 15 October 2022
Academic Editor: Pragney Deme
Copyright © 2022 Pooja Ojha and Varun Malhotra. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Background. Chronic migraine, being a debilitating headache disorder, needs assessment of the risk factors implicated in its
occurrence. We investigated the potential role of obesity as a risk for chronic migraine in premenopausal females with episodic
migraine. Methods. In this analytical study, body fat% was compared between episodic and chronic migraine patient groups.
e standard criteria of the international classification of headache disorder were used for the diagnosis. Demographic data,
clinical details of migraine, and anthropometric measurements were collected using structured questions and standardized
techniques. Pearson’s correlation (r) was estimated to assess the concordance between body fat% and migraine frequency. High
body fat%’s implication on chronic migraine which was adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and the use of oral contraceptives
was determined using logistic regression analysis. Results. A total of 168 premenopausal female migraineurs, with a mean
(Standard deviation) age of 33.0 (±9.0) years, were enrolled in the study. BMI and high body fat% were significantly associated
with chronic migraine (p < 0.05). ere was a weak positive, but significant, correlation between body fat% and migraine
frequency (r = 0.185, p < 0.017). e presence of high body fat was found to increase the risk of chronic migraine by 2.8 times
(confidence interval 1.4–5.6; p < 0.003). Conclusion. e amount of fat mass in the body relates to the clinical characteristics of
migraine. ere is an increased risk of developing chronic migraine in patients having high body fat. Weight control measures
can be targeted for the prevention of migraine worsening.
1. Introduction
Migraine symptomatology and disability are heterogeneous
in presentation and vary in combinations [1]. Migraine
headache has been found to be influenced by a myriad of
predisposing factors, wherein some of them may probably
play a role as migraine precipitants [2]. An unattended
moderate intensity headache can gradually worsen over time
and accentuate in frequency. Reportedly, about 3% of pa-
tients with episodic migraine, attack frequency less than 15
per month, can eventually transform into chronic disease in
due course of months to years [3]. Reported literature
suggests the role of obesity as a risk towards migraine
chronification and the need of additional attention towards
the treatment of obese patients [4].
Notably, body fat plays a significant role in physiological
and pathological mechanisms as it can affect the action of
various drugs, enzymes, and chemicals. Association of body
mass index (BMI), a prevalent method for estimating
obesity, with migraine has been studied in previous research
[5, 6]. BMI has been found to have limited potential when
used alone as it does not take into account age, gender, and
ethnicity, nor does it differentiate between total body fat
mass and lean mass [7]. In addition, BMI has been reported
to be an inconsistent predictor of morbidity and mortality in
a systematic review [8]. Comparatively, body fat percentage
(BF%) is an estimate of the percentage of fat in the body
composition [9]. BF% has been found to play a significant
role in distinguishing the obese individuals from the healthy
ones owing to the greater ability to detect lean mass and fat
Hindawi
Neurology Research International
Volume 2022, Article ID 8219254, 5 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/8219254