The Effect of Pet Companionship on Clinical Symptoms in Migraine.

OBJECTIVE

Migraine is a disabling neurological disorder aggravated by anxiety, sleep disturbance, and chronic stress. Prospective evidence linking pet‑keeping to migraine prognosis is scarce. This study evaluated longitudinal associations of pet ownership with migraine symptoms, comorbidities, and medication use, as well as clinical changes after initiating or stopping pet ownership.

METHODS

This multicenter prospective cohort study enrolled 3017 International Classification of Headache Disorders‑3 (ICHD‑3)‑defined migraine patients with 2‑year standardized follow‑up. Participants were categorized bydynamic pet‑keeping status. Longitudinal outcomes included migraine severity, attack frequency, anxiety, sleep quality, quality of life, and medication utilization; analyses adjusted for baseline imbalances and missing data.

RESULTS

Continuous pet ownership was associated with lower migraine attack frequency, reduced pain severity, decreased medication utilization, alleviated anxiety and sleep disturbances, and improved migraine-specific quality of life over 2-year follow-up (all P<0.001). Dog ownership correlated with more favorable clinical profiles versus cat or other pet ownership (P<0.05). New pet acquisition was associated with significant within-subject improvements in clinical outcomes, whereas discontinuation of pet keeping correlated with the reversal of most clinical benefits. Greater total daily human-pet interaction time exhibited graded associative correlations with clinical improvement magnitude.

CONCLUSION

Stable pet companionship, particularly dog ownership, is favorably associated with improved migraine-related symptoms, comorbid psychological and sleep disturbances, and reduced medication demand. Discontinuation of pet ownership correlates with the attenuation of these observational outcomes. Pet companionship may serve as a feasible non-pharmacological adjuvant consideration for comprehensive migraine management.