Migraine linked to analgesic overuse

Chronic migraine is more strongly linked to analgesic overuse than are other chronic pain conditions, such as neck and low-back pain.Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology did a study with more than 49,000 subjects in Norway who completed questionnaires about chronic pain conditions and analgesic use. Overall, 1 percent of subjects who used analgesics daily or almost daily for at least 1 month reported having a chronic headache, defined as 15 or more days per month with headache. Among subjects who reported analgesic overuse for at least 3 months, the prevalence of chronic headache was 0.9 percent. The rate in women was 1.2 percent, which was double the rate in men. Analgesic overuse for at least 1 month increased the risk of chronic headache 7.5-fold.Among various chronic pain conditions, analgesic overuse was most strongly linked to chronic migraine, followed by non-migraine headache, low-back pain, and neck-pain. Compared with subjects who used analgesic appropriately, those who overused it were 10 times more likely to report chronic migraine.

The high number of individuals with analgesic overuse has important clinical implications, and physicians should be aware of the potential risk of analgesic overuse among those with chronic pain, especially among those with migraine.

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