Objective:

Determine the evidence of the effect of aerobic exercise on the control of migraine attacks.

Data sources:

PubMed, National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), The Cochrane Library, British Medical Journal (BMJ), Canadian Medical Association Infobase, and Centre for Reviews and Dissemination.

Methods:

Systematic reviews (SR), meta-analysis (MA), and guidelines were researched in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, using the MeSH terms ‘migraine disorders’ and ‘exercise’, with no publication date limit. Original studies (OS) published in the last five years were also researched. Articles that evaluated the effect of aerobic exercise on the frequency, duration, and intensity of migraine attacks were included. The level of evidence (LE) and strength of recommendation (SR) were assigned based on the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy Scale (SORT).

Results:

Sixty-nine articles were obtained with three RS with MA, one SR and two OS met the inclusion criteria. All articles were classified with NE2. Most of the articles support the practice of aerobic exercise as a prophylactic treatment for patients with migraine attacks, however, they have small samples, both short intervention and follow-up periods, and heterogeneous intervention strategies.

Conclusions:

Although more clinical studies are needed to assess the long- and short-term impacts of aerobic exercise on migraines, it is possible to conclude that its use could be recommended as prophylactic treatment for these patients (SR B).

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