More Than One in Seven Have a Headache on Any Given Day

WEDNESDAY, April 20, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Headache disorders remain highly prevalent worldwide, according to a study published online April 12 in The Journal of Headache and Pain.

Lars Jacob Stovner, M.D., from St. Olavs University Hospital in Trondheim, Norway, and colleagues updated the global prevalence estimates for all headache, migraine, tension-type headache (TTH), and headache on ≥15 days/month (H15+) and compared geographical and temporal variations.

Based on 357 publications, the researchers estimated the global prevalence of active headache disorder to be 52.0 percent, with prevalence of migraine 14.0 percent, TTH 26.0 percent, and H15+ 4.6 percent. Compared with the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study, estimates were comparable for migraine and TTH but higher for headache overall. Approximately one in seven people globally (15.8 percent) had a headache each day. Variation was explained by publication year, sample size, inclusion of probable diagnoses, subpopulation sampling (e.g., of health care personnel), sampling method (random or not), screening question (neutral, or qualified in severity or presumed cause), and scope of inquiry (headache disorders only or multiple other conditions).

“Ideally, future prevalence estimates from all parts of the world will be derived from studies performed in a relatively standardized way, in accordance with published recommendations,” the authors write.

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