Vitamin D status in children with migraine: a case-control study

Abstract

Introduction: Vitamin D deficiency has been observed in patients with migraine; however, the results of previous studies are controversial. We aimed to evaluate vitamin D status in a group of children with migraine and to compare them with a group of healthy control. Material and methods: We conducted a prospective case-control study to assess the vitamin D status in children with migraine comparing them with age-and sex-matched healthy controls. Thirty children with migraine and 30 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. The age range was 6-14 years. The vitamin D status was classified as optimal (> 20 ng/ml), insufficient (11-20 ng/ml), and deficient (≤ 10 ng/ml). We also tried to assess the correlation between vitamin D status and the severity and frequency of headache attacks. Results: In the migraine group, five patients (3 girls and 2 boys) had optimal vitamin D, 20 (10 girls and 10 boys) had insufficiency and five (4 girls and 1 boy) were deficient. In the control group, six patients (4 girls and 2 boys) had optimal vitamin D, 19 (8 girls and 11 boys) had insufficiency, and five (4 girls and 1 boy) were deficient. Vitamin D status had no significant difference between groups (p = 0.943). We could not find any correlation between vitamin D status and severity (Pearson correlation, p = 0.513) and frequency (Pearson correlation, p = 0.422) of migraine attacks. Conclusions: Vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency are equally common in children with migraine and healthy controls. We need well designed case control studies with large sample sizes to properly assess the probable pathophysiologic role of vitamin D in children with migraine.