Migraine prevalence, disease burden, and the need for preventive therapy
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: 1) To reassess the prevalence of migraine in the United States; 2) to assess patterns of migraine treatment in the population; and 3) to contrast current patterns of preventive treatment use with recommendations for use from an expert headache panel. METHODS: A validated self-administered headache questionnaire was mailed to 120,000 US households, representative of the US population. Migraineurs were identified according to the criteria of the second edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders. Guidelines for preventive medication use were developed by a panel of headache experts. Criteria for consider or offer prevention were based on headache frequency and impairment. RESULTS: We assessed 162,576 individuals aged 12 years or older. The 1-year period prevalence for migraine was 11.7% (17.1% in women and 5.6% in men). Prevalence peaked in middle life and was lower in adolescents and those older than age 60 years. Of all migraineurs, 31.3% had an attack frequency of three or more per month, and 53.7% reported severe impairment or the need for bed rest. In total, 25.7% met criteria for "offer prevention," and in an additional 13.1%, prevention should be considered. Just 13.0% reported current use of daily preventive migraine medication. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with previous studies, the epidemiologic profile of migraine has remained stable in the United States during the past 15 years. More than one in four migraineurs are candidates for preventive therapy, and a substantial proportion of those who might benefit from prevention do not receive it.
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For some comorbidities, estimated prevalence rates for POTS patients are higher than those reported in the general population.
“For some of these comorbidities, the estimated prevalence rates for POTS patients are higher than those reported in the general population 1, 23, 24, 25, 26.”
From The face of postural tachycardia syndrome – insights from a large cross‐sectional online community‐based survey (2019) · cites this paper as [24]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Lipton, R. B., Bigal, M. E., Diamond, M., Freitag, F., Reed, M. L., & Stewart, W. F.
- Affiliations
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine (US)
- Venue
- Neurology
- Published
- 2007-01-30
- Volume
- 68
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 343-349
- ISSN
- 0028-3878 (ISSN-L)
- 1526-632X
- OpenAlex
- W2047455969
- Cited by
- 2,337
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 78 · 2025: 103 · 2024: 126 · 2023: 136 · 2022: 128 · 2021: 165 · 2020: 176 · 2019: 163 · 2018: 125 · 2017: 128 · 2016: 114 · 2015: 122 · 2014: 102 · 2013: 123 · 2012: 125
- FWCI
- 66.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Neurology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Headache Foundation
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Migraine and Headache Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Intracranial Aneurysms: Treatment and Complications
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Complementary and Manual Therapy › Temporomandibular Joint Disorders
- Keywords
- migraine, migraine prevalence, disease burden, migraine prophylaxis, treatment patterns, headache frequency, sex differences, age differences, International Classification of Headache Disorders, United States
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Migraine Disorders, Practice Patterns, Physicians', Surveys and Questionnaires, Risk Factors, United States, Prevalence, Practice Guidelines as Topic, Risk Assessment, Guideline Adherence, Secondary Prevention
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