Migraine in Primary Care: Which Patients are at Risk?
Current Migraine Trends in the US. This analysis aimed to find out what the current trends in migraines/severe headaches are in the US, if trends have changed over time, and which groups bear the highest burden.
Nationally Representative Study of Migraine Trends. Data from three large governmental health surveillance studies (NHIS, NHAMCS, and NAMCS) evaluated the prevalence of migraines/severe headaches in adults.
Migraine Burden High but Mostle Stable in US Adults. In 2015, females (20.7%) had a higher burden of migraines/severe headaches over a 3-month period than men (9.7%) and a higher prevalence of stable migraines/severe headaches between 2006 and 2015 than men (20.3% vs 9.5%).
Headache Burden Varies by Race/Ethnicity and Age. American Indian/Alaskan natives have the highest headache burden at 18.4%. Also, migraine burden is highest in younger and older age groups.
Socioeconomic Status Associated with Headache Burden. Socioeconomic status plays a role in headache burden with 21.7% of people with headache burden living below the poverty line and 26% on Medicaid.
Clinical Implications:
- Migraine burden is higher in those likely to have decreased access to healthcare and headache treatment.
- Newer high-cost migraine treatments could widen inequities in disease burden.
- It is important to ensure access to novel treatments in high prevalence populations.
Take Home Points:
- 1 in 6 Americans and 1 in 5 US women may suffer from migraine/severe headache.
- American Indian/Alaskan natives as well as younger and older age groups have a high migraine burden.
- Migraine burden is high in those with low income and with Medicaid or no insurance.
- Migraine accounts for 3 in 100 ED visits annually.
Migraines are widespread in the US and also concentrated in defined populations. Results of a recent analysis of trends in disease burden and distribution were published in the most recent edition of the journal Headache.Are any of your patients in a population disproportionately affected by migraine? Scan through the short slide show above for information that could help improve primary intervention.For more information:Â Burch R, Rizzoli P, Loder E, et al. The Prevalence and impact of migraine and severe headache in the United States: Figures and trends from government health studies. Headache. 2018; 58:496-505.Â
