Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T02:00:18.670Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

22 - Migraine

from Part II - Neurological diseases

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2009

Albert Hofman
Affiliation:
Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam
Richard Mayeux
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York
Get access

Summary

Epidemiology

Migraine headache is an extremely common and temporarily disabling headache disorder. One recent population-based survey reported that 19% of women and 8% of men had suffered at least one attack of migraine in the previous year. However, only a minority of active migraineurs have seen a physician within the last year for headache (2–4). As a consequence, clinic-based studies are prone to significant selection bias. Population-based studies, which actively screen participants for migraine whether or not they consult physicians, provide more representative samples for research.

A large number of population-based prevalence studies of migraine have been published and summarized elsewhere (5–8). Prevalence has been shown to vary by race, age, gender, and survey methodology (below). A recent meta-analysis suggests that much of the variability in estimates of migraine prevalence is due to the variability of case definitions and sociodemographic profiles of the study subjects. Studies using the IHS criteria showed more consistent results. Table 22.1 presents the results from recent population-based studies that: used IHS criteria and were based on representative populations.

Age

Most studies on migraine prevalence have reported variation by age and gender. Prevalence is generally highest between the ages of 25 and 55, often with a peak in the late 30s and early 40s (10–13). Figure 22.1 (from the American Migraine Study) illustrates this pattern. The strong nonlinear association of age with prevalence accounts for some of the variability in prevalence estimates among studies, due to differing age distributions in the study populations.

Type
Chapter
Information
Investigating Neurological Disease
Epidemiology for Clinical Neurology
, pp. 291 - 306
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×