A Canadian Population Survey on the Clinical, Epidemiologic and Societal Impact of Migraine and Tension-Type Headache

TLDR

The study surveyed 1,573 Canadian adults via telephone, applying IHS classification tables to categorize reported headaches as migraine, tension‑type, or other. Among the sampled households, 59 % contained at least one headache sufferer, with migraine prevalence at 14 %, tension‑type at 36 %, and both at 14 %; migraine sufferers experienced greater disability, with nearly 20 % taking time off work and an average of one day of disability, indicating that Canadian migraine prevalence aligns with prior studies, IHS criteria are effective, and migraine’s functional impact has been underestimated.

Abstract

Trained telephone interviewers contacted 1,573 adults across Canada about the nature and frequency of headaches suffered by them or by others in their households. Using a table of pain symptoms and other characteristics abstracted from the International Headache Society (IHS) classification, the headaches were assigned to migraine headache, tension-type headache or other diagnostic groups. Of the households sampled, 59% had at least one headache sufferer in residence. The proportion of headache sufferers with migraine was 14%; with tension-type, 36%; and with both, 14%. Migraine headache caused more disability than tension-type headache, with nearly 20% of migraine sufferers taking time off work and disability lasting for a mean of 1 day. It is concluded that the current prevalences of migraine and tension-type headache in Canada fall around the mean of previous studies, that the IHS criteria can form a basis for diagnostic classification and that the functional impact of migraine has been seriously underestimated in the past.