Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Apr 26, 2024
Date Accepted: Oct 20, 2025
Evaluation of High-Risk Dietary and Environmental Factors Preceding Migraine Onset: A Comparative Analysis of Self-Reported Triggers Using a Mobile Tracking App Migraine Insight
ABSTRACT
Background:
Migraines are a significant health concern for millions of patients who are reliant on habitual tracking of event triggers, with the goal of reducing or predicting episodes. Migraine Insight is an app that facilitates daily logging to quantitatively determine individualized patterns of events preceding migraine onset.
Objective:
To investigate patterns for most frequently reported triggers from user data of the Migraine Insight app user entries were evaluated.
Methods:
A preliminary key word list was assessed from a raw data set of 2605 data entry values, extracted from 30-day period of September 19 to October 18, 2021, to identify high ranking self-reported events, classified by dietary, environmental, body physiology and medications. Association between migraine onset after consumption of top 5 dietary products were evaluated to establish frequency of migraine episode for all users who reported the items.
Results:
Collectively, food and beverage (n=353, n= 252) totaled the highest reported entries, with chocolate, wine, tea, coffee, and cheese as highest-ranked foods for prevalence of reporting across all users and for frequency of migraine onset for users who reported the items within 48-hours, including 61.8% users (n=104) experienced a migraine episode after chocolate consumption. The four highest non-food entries were altered sleep patterns (n=245), stress or anxiety (n=199), rain or storm conditions (n=192), and bright light or brightness (n=191).
Conclusions:
High-risk foods, environmental conditions, stress, and lighting with highest prevalence reporting have previously been reported in medical literature, implicating that a migraine tracking app is a valid alternative to paper-based diaries. The implications for environmental conditions, especially changes in barometric pressure, contributing to migraine pathophysiology presents an opportunity to provide users with meaningful trigger alerts through mobile app with updated integrated weather tracking features.
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