Prevalence of migraine
Clinical bottom line
The prevalence of migraine in women is 17% and in men is 6%
To investigate the prevalence of migraine, studies were looked for that used International Headache Society criteria for migraine in large samples of adults. The results of individual studies are shown in Table 1 below.
The samples were large, and ranged from 1,200 to over 20,000 people (about 58,000 in total), were in adults, were conducted in Europe or North America, and generally used a random sample of a population. The range of results for women was between 11.9% and 21.9%, and for men between 4.0% and 8.2%. The weighted mean prevalence for women was 17% and for men was 6%.
Figure 1: Individual migraine prevalence studies (pink for women, blue for men). Vertical lines are weighted means
Table 1: Studies reporting prevalence of migraine over one year or lifetime using IHS criteria
| Lifetime or one year prevalence (%) | |||||||
|
Reference |
Type of study |
Sample source |
Sample size |
Age range |
Men |
Women |
Overall |
| Breslau et al, 1991 | Survey, face-to-face interview | HMO population, random sample, USA |
1,200 |
21 to 30 |
7.0 |
16.3 |
12.8 |
| Gobel et al, 1994 | Survey, face-to-face interview | General population, random sample, Germany |
5,000 |
18 + |
7.0 |
15.0 |
11.0 |
| Henry et al, 1992 | Survey, face-to-face interview | General population, stratified quota with random element, France |
4204 |
15 + |
4.0 |
11.9 |
8.1 |
| Linet et al, 1989 | Survey, telephone interview | General population, residents of Washington County, Maryland USA |
10,000 |
12 to 29 |
5.3 |
14.0 |
|
| O'Brien et al, 1994 | Survey, telephone interview | General population, random sample, Canada |
4235 |
18 + |
7.4 |
21.9 |
|
| Rasmussen et al, 1991 | Prospective survey, clinical exam | General population, random sample, Denmark |
1000 |
25-64 |
6.0 |
15.0 |
10.0 |
| Stewart et al, 1992 | Survey, PSAQ | General population, random sample, USA |
20,468 |
12 to 80 |
5.7 |
17.6 |
|
| Stewart et al, 1996 | Survey, telephone interview | General population, USA |
12,000 |
18 to 65 |
8.2 |
19.0 |
|
Comment
Migraine is a common condition affecting a substantial number of women in particular. Perhaps only one in five patients with migraine seek medical help, partly because they consider treatments are ineffective, or because they fear adverse effects.