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© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Background: Changes in the daily rhythm can trigger migraine attacks. The sensitivity for triggering attacks is closely linked to the regulation of biological rhythms controlled by the hypothalamus. In over 70 countries around the world, the time is changed between daylight savings time and standard time twice a year due to legal regulations. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the time change has an influence on migraine. Methods: In this retrospective study, the headache frequency of patients with episodic or chronic migraine at a tertiary headache center in the years 2020, 2021, and 2022 was evaluated. The primary outcome measure was the frequency of migraine occurrence on either Sunday or Monday of the time change weekend compared to Sunday or Monday before or Sunday or Monday after the time change. Results: Data from 258 patients were analyzed (86.8% women; average age: 51.5 years; average headache frequency: 7.7 days/month; 83.3% episodic migraine). Our results showed a significant increase of 6.4% in migraine frequency on the Sunday and/or Monday in the week after the time change in spring compared to the week before the change. In autumn, conversely, there was a significant reduction of 5.5% in migraine frequency on the Sunday and/or Monday one week after the time change compared to the week before the change. The factor responsible for the significant changes was the increase in migraines on Monday one week after the time change in spring and the decrease in migraines on Sunday one week after the time change in autumn. Conclusions: When switching from standard time to daylight savings time in the spring, the frequency of migraines increases significantly one week after the time change. In autumn, in comparison, there is an inverse trend with a reduction in migraine frequency. These data suggest that synchronization is disturbed when switching to daylight savings time. Conversely, synchronization normalizes in autumn. In view of the high prevalence of migraines, this can have extensive individual and social consequences.

Details

Title
The Impact of Biseasonal Time Changes on Migraine
Author
Göbel, Carl H 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Heinze-Kuhn, Katja 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Heinze, Axel 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Cirkel, Anna 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Göbel, Hartmut 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Kiel Migraine and Headache Center, 24149 Kiel, Germany; [email protected] (K.H.-K.); [email protected] (A.H.); [email protected] (A.C.); [email protected] (H.G.); Department of Neurology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, 24149 Kiel, Germany 
 Kiel Migraine and Headache Center, 24149 Kiel, Germany; [email protected] (K.H.-K.); [email protected] (A.H.); [email protected] (A.C.); [email protected] (H.G.) 
 Kiel Migraine and Headache Center, 24149 Kiel, Germany; [email protected] (K.H.-K.); [email protected] (A.H.); [email protected] (A.C.); [email protected] (H.G.); Department of Neurology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, 23562 Lübeck, Germany 
First page
40
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Publisher
MDPI AG
ISSN
20358385
e-ISSN
20358377
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3181607256
Copyright
© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.