The study was conducted for the National Headache Foundation by Strategic Insights, Inc., and underwritten by a grant from Glaxo Wellcome Inc.
The objective of the study was to measure the prevalence of migraine headaches; assess the impact that migraines have on the daily lives of patients; and to measure the changes in migraine management between 1989 and 1999. The 1999 study updates a methodologically identical study by the same research team conducted in 1989 and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Stewart, Lipton, et al. JAMA, 1992, Vol. 267, No. 1, pages 64-69).
The results of the follow-up study indicate that despite a better understanding of migraine headaches, and medications designed specifically for the treatment of these often debilitating headaches, many patients continue to suffer needless pain and disability. Migraines are misdiagnosed as sinus headaches almost as often as they are correctly diagnosed as migraine. These dibilitating headaches are rated as severe or extremely severe in 80% of patients, and 23% said they have sought emergency room treatment.
An astonishing 28 million Americans are migraine sufferers; migraine headaches affect one out of every four households in the United States. This is 13% of the population. Untreated migraine headaches cause a significant reduction in the quality of life for sufferers. Migraines account for a tremendous loss of time from work, school, and household activities for many patients. Fifty-one percent of sufferers report that during an attack they experience a 50% or more reduction in work and/or school productivity; 66% report a 50% or more reduction in household work. Thirty-nine percent of sufferers report pain so severe that they are driven to their beds--sometimes for days at a time.
Migraine headaches are a biological disease that is characterized by throbbing head pain which is usually located on one side of the head, often accompanied by nausea and sensitivity to light and/or sound. Migraines are more common than asthma, diabetes, or congestive heart failure. Those who experience migraine are often unable to perform daily activities due to the combination of disabling pain and the associated symptoms. Attacks occur periodically and can last from four to seventy-two hours. The symptoms, severity, and length of attack can vary by individual and by attack.
