Parental migraine is associated with offspring migraine, with a stronger association for maternal migraine, according to a recent study. Therefore, this may indicate maternal-specific transmission. Researchers utilized data from the HUNT Study, a large, population-based cohort study. Using a cross-sectional design, the sample consisted of 13,731 parents and 8970 offspring. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals for active migraine and non-migrainous headache in offspring, given active maternal or paternal headache. They found:
There was a significant association between maternal migraine and offspring migraine (odds ratio 2.76).
A weaker association was found between paternal migraine and offspring migraine (odds ratio 1.67).
For non-migrainous headache, there was a significant association between mothers and offspring (odds ratio 1.25), but not between fathers and offspring.
Børte S, Zwart J-A, Stendland SØ, Hagen K, Winsvold BS. Parental migraine in relation to migraine in offspring: Family linkage analyses from the HUNT Study. [Published online ahead of print February 2, 2019]. Cephalalgia. doi:10.1177%2F0333102419828989.