Wildfire smoke exposure and emergency department visits for headache: A case-crossover analysis in California, 2006-2020.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the association of short-term exposure to overall fine particulate matter of <2.5 μm (PM2.5 ) and wildfire-specific PM2.5 with emergency department (ED) visits for headache.

BACKGROUND

Studies have reported associations between PM2.5 exposure and headache risk. As climate change drives longer and more intense wildfire seasons, wildfire PM2.5 may contribute to more frequent headaches.

METHODS

Our study included adult Californian members (aged ≥18 years) of a large de-identified commercial and Medicare Advantage claims database from 2006 to 2020. We identified ED visits for primary headache disorders (subtypes: tension-type headache, migraine headache, cluster headache, and "other" primary headache). Claims included member age, sex, and residential zip code. We linked daily overall and wildfire-specific PM2.5 to residential zip code and conducted a time-stratified case-crossover analysis considering 7-day average PM2.5 concentrations, first for primary headache disorders combined, and then by headache subtype.

RESULTS

Among 9898 unique individuals we identified 13,623 ED encounters for primary headache disorders. Migraine was the most frequently diagnosed headache (N = 5534/13,623 [47.6%]) followed by "other" primary headache (N = 6489/13,623 [40.6%]). For all primary headache ED diagnoses, we observed an association of 7-day average wildfire PM2.5 (odds ratio [OR] 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.95-1.44 per 10 μg/m3 increase) and by subtype we observed increased odds of ED visits associated with 7-day average wildfire PM2.5 for tension-type headache (OR 1.42, 95% CI 0.91-2.22), "other" primary headache (OR 1.40, 95% CI 0.96-2.05), and cluster headache (OR 1.29, 95% CI 0.71-2.35), although these findings were not statistically significant under traditional null hypothesis testing. Overall PM2.5 was associated with tension-type headache (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.03-1.62), but not migraine, cluster, or "other" primary headaches.

CONCLUSIONS

Although imprecise, these results suggest short-term wildfire PM2.5 exposure may be associated with ED visits for headache. Patients, healthcare providers, and systems may need to respond to increased headache-related healthcare needs in the wake of wildfires and on poor air quality days.