Ismail OM, et al. - In this study, investigators evaluated the relationship between dry eye disease (DED) and migraine headaches. They observed a higher tendency of comorbid DED among candidates with migraine headaches.

Methods

• In this retrospective case-control study, 72,969 individuals of age more than 18 years from University of North Carolina–affiliated health care facilities between May 1, 2008 and May 31, 2018 were examined; they assessed the data from June 1 to June 30, 2018.
• Exposures included the diagnosis of migraine headache.
• They measured the odds ratios between DED and migraine headaches for participants as a whole and stratified by sex and age group.

Results

• Including 41,764 males (57.2%) and 31,205 females (42.8%), the base population consisted of 72,969 cases.
• A fraction of 5,352 subjects (7.3%) were observed with a diagnosis of migraine headache whereas 9,638 (13.2%) carried a diagnosis of DED.
• They recorded 1.72 (95% CI, 1.60-1.85) times higher odds of having DED with a diagnosis of migraine headaches vs that of subjects without migraine headaches.
• They recorded odds of having DED with a diagnosis of migraine headaches as 1.42 (95% CI, 1.20-1.68) times higher than that of patients without migraine headaches, after accounting for multiple confounding factors.