Association between Headache and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) among Middle-aged and Elderly Individuals: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS)

Background Studies investigating the association between headache and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are lacking. This study evaluated the independent association between headache and MCI among middle-aged and older Chinese adults using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Methods This prospective cohort study used headache and cognitive data from two waves of the CHARLS collected in 2011 (wave 1) and 2015 (wave 3). The study population consisted of individuals who are 45 years of age or older with complete data on headache and cognitive assessments. We used statistical methods such as linear regression and multiple logistic regression to analyze the data. Results The study initially enrolled 12,623 participants with a mean age of 58.9 years; 52.6% were female. Cognitive scores were lower in the headache group across all domains in the cross-sectional analysis (β= -0.39, 95% CI: -0.57~-0.21). Longitudinally, the headache group had a higher risk of MCI at baseline (OR=2.30, 95% CI: 2.05 to 2.58) and follow-up (OR=2.46, 95% CI: 1.86 to 3.26), with persisting significance after adjustments (baseline adjusted OR=1.32, follow-up adjusted OR=1.42, both p<0.05). In the subgroup analyses, no significant interactions were observed between the groups (p > 0.05). Conclusions Participants with headache disorders had lower cognitive scores and had a higher risk of developing MCI in middle-aged and older Chinese population. As headache may increase the risk of MCI, headache prevention and treatment is of vital importance in preventing cognitive impairment, improving the quality of life in middle-aged and older population.