Association of statin use and risk for severe headache or migraine by serum vitamin D status: A cross-sectional population-based study

Objective The objective of this article is to evaluate whether statin use and vitamin D status is associated with severe headache or migraine in a nationally representative sample. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of US individuals aged 40 years for whom information on statin use, serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D), and self-reported severe headache or migraine had been collected. We calculated prevalence estimates of headache according to statin and 25(OH)D, and conducted adjusted logistic regression analyses stratified by the median 25(OH)D (57 and >57nmol/l). Results Among 5938 participants, multivariable-adjusted logistic regression showed that statin use was significantly associated with a lower prevalence of severe headache or migraine (OR 0.67; 95% CI 0.46, 0.98, p=0.04). We found a significant interaction between statin use and 25(OH)D with the prevalence of severe headache or migraine (p for interaction=0.005). Among participants who had serum 25(OH)D>57nmol/l, statin use was associated with a multivariable-adjusted odds ratio of 0.48 (95% CI 0.32, 0.71, p=0.001) for having severe headache or migraine. Among those with 25(OH)D57nmol/l, no significant association was observed between statin use and severe headache or migraine. Conclusion Statin use in those with higher serum vitamin D levels is significantly associated with lower odds of having severe headache or migraine.