Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Aug 12;25(1):131.
doi: 10.1186/s10194-024-01832-0.

Global, regional, and national burden and trends of migraine among youths and young adults aged 15-39 years from 1990 to 2021: findings from the global burden of disease study 2021

Zhi-Feng Chen #  1 , Xiang-Meng Kong #  2 , Cheng-Hao Yang  3 , Xin-Yu Li  4   5 , Hong Guo  6 , Zhao-Wei Wang  7
Affiliations

Global, regional, and national burden and trends of migraine among youths and young adults aged 15-39 years from 1990 to 2021: findings from the global burden of disease study 2021

Zhi-Feng Chen et al. J Headache Pain. .

Abstract

Background: Migraine, a widespread neurological condition, substantially affects the quality of life, particularly for adolescents and young adults. While its impact is significant, there remains a paucity of comprehensive global research on the burden of migraine in younger demographics. Our study sought to elucidate the global prevalence, incidence, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) associated with migraine in the 15-39 age group from 1990 to 2021, utilizing data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 study.

Methods: Our comprehensive study analyzed migraine data from the GBD 2021 report, examining the prevalence, incidence, and DALYs across 204 countries and territories over a 32-year span. We stratified the information by age, sex, year, geographical region, and Socio-demographic Index (SDI). To evaluate temporal trends in these metrics, we employed the estimated annual percentage change (EAPC) calculation.

Results: Between 1990 and 2021, the worldwide prevalence of migraine among 15-39 year-olds increased substantially. By 2021, an estimated 593.8 million cases were reported, representing a 39.52% rise from 425.6 million cases in 1990. Global trends showed increases in age-standardized prevalence rate, incidence rate, and DALY rate for migraine during this period. The EAPC were positive for all three metrics: 0.09 for ASPR, 0.03 for ASIR, and 0.09 for DALY rate. Regions with medium SDI reported the highest absolute numbers of prevalent cases, incident cases, and DALYs in 2021. However, high SDI regions demonstrated the most elevated rates overall. Across the globe, migraine prevalence peaked in the 35-39 age group. Notably, female rates consistently exceeded male rates across all age categories.

Conclusion: The global impact of migraine on youths and young adults has grown considerably from 1990 to 2021, revealing notable variations across SDI regions, countries, age groups, and sexes. This escalating burden necessitates targeted interventions and public health initiatives, especially in areas and populations disproportionately affected by migraine.

Keywords: Disability-adjusted life years; Global burden of disease; Migraine; Socio-demographic index.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Trends in migraine prevalence, incidence and disability-adjusted life-years from 1990 to 2021
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The associations between the sociodemographic index and migraine across 21 GBD regions. A Association between age-standardized migraine prevalence rate and sociodemographic index. B Association between age-standardized migraine incidence rate and sociodemographic index. C Association between age-standardized migraine DALYs rate and sociodemographic index
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
A The global disease burden of migraine prevalence rate for both sexes in 204 countries and territories. B Change prevalence cases of migraine for both sexes in 204 countries and territories. C EAPC for migraine prevalence
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Comparison of the global disease burden of migraine prevalence in males and females across 204 countries and territories between 1990 and 2021
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Decomposition analysis of migraine change in prevalence by SDI and 21 GBD region, 1990 to 2021
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Future forecasts of GBD in migraine prevalence
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ashina M (2020) Migraine. New England J Med 383(19):1866–1876. 10.1056/NEJMra1915327 10.1056/NEJMra1915327 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Li X, Yang C, Lv J, Liu H, Zhang L, Yin M, Guo Z, Zhang R (2023) Global, regional, and national epidemiology of migraine and tension-type headache in youths and young adults aged 15–39 years from 1990 to 2019: findings from the global burden of disease study 2019. J Headache Pain 24(1):126. 10.1186/s10194-023-01659-1 10.1186/s10194-023-01659-1 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yang Y, Cao Y (2023) Rising trends in the burden of migraine and tension-type headache among adolescents and young adults globally, 1990 to 2019. J Headache Pain 24(1):94. 10.1186/s10194-023-01634-w 10.1186/s10194-023-01634-w - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. (2020) Global burden of 369 diseases and injuries in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2019. Lancet (London, England) 396(10258):1204–1222. 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30925-9 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Charles A (2018) The pathophysiology of migraine: implications for clinical management. Lancet Neurol 17(2):174–182. 10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30435-0 10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30435-0 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources