Worldwide survey shows substantial burden of migraine

A survey from a large population of patients worldwide shows the substantial burden of migraine. These results indicate that migraine has a substantial negative impact on patients’ lives and their familial, social, and professional environment.

As the second leading cause of years lived with disability, migraine is associated with a substantial personal burden for patients, their families, social circles, and employers. The current study aimed to evaluate patient perceptions of the impact and burden of migraine, as well as patient perception of migraine diagnosis and treatment, stigma, and migraine awareness and support [1].

A brief digital survey (~12 minutes) was completed by approximately 12,500 adult patients diagnosed with migraine who self-reported ≥4 days of migraine per month. Data was collected between November and December 2019 across 16 countries in Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia. The majority of patients was 25­–54 years of age (74%) and female (73%).

A total of 70% of patients reported progression of migraine symptoms over time. Importantly, only 59% of patients reported to be satisfied with their prescription treatment for migraine. A comparable percentage of participants (61%) was satisfied with the physician treating their migraine.

Patients most commonly reported that migraine impacted the following areas of their lives:

• overall health and wellbeing (69%);
• social life (60%);
• work and career (56%); and
• relationship with family (39%).

Patients reported that the following people in their lives were the most impacted by their migraine:

• partner (68%);
• children (55%);
• parents (22%);
• employer (22%);
• friends (19%); and
• other family members (19%).

Almost half of the patients (46%) reported having hidden their migraine, most commonly from their employer (63%), family (49%), or friends (37%). A proportion of patients (44%) felt that the healthcare community could play the largest role in raising awareness of migraine.

These results indicate that migraine has a substantial negative impact on patients’ lives and their familial, social, and professional environment and represents a substantial burden.

 

1. Mitsikostas DD. Patient perceptions of the impact and burden of migraine: an international survey of 12,545 patients across 16 countries. MTIS Virtual Symposium 2020, abstract MTV20-DP-089.

Posted on 27 October 202023 April 2024