What is the actual prevalence of migraine?
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Population prevalence studies of migraine report prevalence rates of between 2.6 and 21.7%, with an average of ~12%. However, migraine prevalence among neurologists is reported to be significantly higher, between 27.6% and 48.6%. Increasing knowledge of the protean manifestations of migraine may explain this difference. Similarly, under-recognition of migraine in control groups may explain the lack of genetic and biomarker findings in this disorder. We therefore sought to determine the prevalence of migraine in an admixed group of individuals with varied knowledge of migraine symptomatology.
METHODS: Attendees at the Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists Annual Scientific Meeting (ANZAN ASM) 2017 were surveyed anonymously. Those surveyed included three groups: neurologists, neurology trainees, and others including nonclinical researchers, members of lay organizations, and representatives of the pharmaceutical industry.
RESULTS: In total, 313 of 606 attendees responded (51.7%). 65.9% of neurologist, 57.4% of trainee, and 52.5% of others respondents had a personal history of migraine, with the difference between neurologists and others being statistically significant (p = .03). Migraine in migraineurs and nonmigraine headache in nonmigraineurs were nearly all self-diagnosed. Among neurologist migraineurs, 51.2% experienced migraine with aura and 43% migraine without aura.
CONCLUSIONS: Migraine prevalence is significantly higher in neurologists…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Calcium Ions in the Physiology and Pathology of the Central Nervous System
- AI-powered in silico twins: redefining precision medicine through simulation, personalization, and predictive healthcare
- In silico functional, structural and pathogenicity analysis of missense single nucleotide polymorphisms in human MCM6 gene
- In Silico drug repurposing pipeline using deep learning and structure based approaches in epilepsy
- Targeting serotonin receptors with phytochemicals – an in-silico study
- In silico exploration of anti-prostate cancer compounds from differential expressed genes
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.