Prevalence and Burden of Illness of Migraine in Managed Care Patients

Migraine is a common and intermittently disabling condition, causing significant burden for both theindividual and society, including loss of productivity, limitations in activity, and decreased quality of life.1-5 Migraine pain tends to be severe, resulting in associated symptoms and functional impairment. In a survey of 500 self-reported migraineurs, 97 % reported their headache pain to be of moderate-to-severe intensity.6 Migraine attacks can severely impair the ability to work and require bed rest in many of the approximately 28 million affected American sufferers.2,5,7 Migraine sufferers have more difficulty functioning at home and at work than nonmigraineurs.3,8 A recent economic model estimated that losses due to decreased productivity are roughly $1.9 million for a company with 10,000 employees and $23.8 million for a company with 88,000 employees.9 Epidemiologic studies have found lifetime prevalence rate