Global Migraine Burden Trends Upward, Increasing Rapidly in Men, Adolescents

The global burden of migraine is increasing rapidly, particularly among men and adolescents, according to study results published in Pain Therapy.

Migraine affected more than 1 billion people worldwide in 2021. Research on the burden of migraine has historically focused on women and girls, with limited data available on other populations and global trends.

Researchers conducted a 30-year review to explore trends in global migraine burden and capture changes in migraine distribution using data from the Global Burden of Disease 2021 database. They collected data on incidence, prevalence, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and analyzed trends by geographic region, age group, sex, and sociodemographic index (SDI). Predictive models were used to forecast trends through 2050.

Between 1990 and 2021, the global prevalence of migraine increased by approximately 58.15%, affecting 1.16 billion patients, and the global incidence increased by 42.06%, affecting 90.18 million patients. The overall rate of DALYs significantly increased by 58.27%. In age-standardized analyses, with individuals grouped by 5-year age intervals, prevalence and DALYs increased from 14,027.65 to 14,246.55 and from 526.76 to 532.70, respectively, per 100,000 patients.

Further analysis revealed women had a higher incidence of migraine than men in 1990 (39.50 vs 23.99 million) and 2021 (55.43 vs 34.75 million). Similar findings were observed in regard to prevalence in 1990 (462.90 vs 269.67 million) and 2021 (725.24 vs 433.19 million). However, age-standardized data indicated migraine burden grew 4 to 5 finds faster in men than in women over the study period.

Analysis of broader age groups showed that age-standardized rates of migraine prevalence, incidence, and DALYs grew faster in adolescents (age, <20 years) than in older adult groups (20-54 and <55 years).

In regard to differences by region and country, migraine burden increased most significantly in East Asia and Latin America and decreased most significantly in Southeast Asia. Regions with high SDI scores showed the highest age-standardized rate of DALYs, whereas those with low SDI scores showed the lowest age-standardized rate of DALYs.

Data captured via predictive modeling indicated increased rates of migraine prevalence and DALYs through 2050, especially among men and adolescents.

Study limitations include potential bias and underreporting of migraine in SDI regions.

According to the researchers, “Focused interventions are required to mitigate the growing impact of migraines on global health, particularly among male individuals and adolescents.”

This article originally appeared on Clinical Pain Advisor