Migraine in the USA: Just How Big is the Problem?

How many people are dealing with migraine in the United States?  Is it really a big issue, or just something that the media has blown out of proportion?

Researchers at the Department of Psychology at the University of Mississippi used already published studies to estimate just how serious the problem is, based on how many people experience migraine attacks over a three month period.

Among the general population, over 16% had experienced migraine or severe headache over the past 3 months.  (This included either migraine and “severe headaches” or else migraine and probable migraine).

Not surprisingly, the group with the most migraine attacks was women between 18 and 44.  In this group, the number skyrocketed to 26.1%, or more than 1 in 4 women.
Migraine was significant even in groups we don’t often think about.  For example, in men 75 or older, 4.6% had experienced severe headache or migraine over 3 months.

As you might imagine, headache was a major reason for visits to emergency.  As we’ve discussed before, although headache usually doesn’t require a visit to emergency, it is often imperative to go right away – in certain cases it can save your life.  Head pain turned out to be 5th on the list of reasons why people visit emergency (I’m sure other common reasons include chest and abdominal pain, and things like strains, sprains, and wounds like bruises or cuts).  For women, it was #3 on the list.

The researchers also noted that, not only is migraine itself a serious public health problem, you need to figure in common comorbid conditions.  These would include things like depression, irritable bowel syndrome, heart conditions, and epilepsy.

So the answer is – no, the media hasn’t overblown the issue.  Even in the last three months, chances are that among your 20 best friends, between 3 and 5 have had at least one significant attack in the last 3 months.  That doesn’t include other related conditions, and the many other symptoms and “between-migraine-attack” issues that many experience.

Researchers, governments, schools, churches, families, work places, other organizations – they should be talking about migraine and looking for ways to help with the burden so many people bear.

Study abstract:  The Prevalence, Impact, and Treatment of Migraine and Severe Headaches in the United States: A Review of Statistics From National Surveillance Studies.
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