Low household income associated with chronic migraine

New data presented today at The 2010 European Headache and Migraine Trust International Congress (EHMTIC) shows that persons with chronic migraine (headache on greater than or equal to 15 days per month) are much more likely to have annual household incomes below $30,000 than those with episodic migraine (headache on < 15 days per month).  This difference in household income may be attributable to the greater adverse headache impact in the chronic migraine group.  Chronic migraine, a condition characterized by headaches more days than not, afflicts about 1 in 50 Americans.  This research is from the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study (AMPP), the largest-ever longitudinal study of headache.

The study involved 373 individuals with chronic migraine and 6,554 with episodic migraine. Those with chronic migraine were more likely to have average annual household incomes below $30,000 than those with episodic migraine (38.3% of chronic migraineurs and 26.5% of episodic migraineurs had household incomes of less than $30,000/year).   The Headache Impact Test (HIT-6) measures the burden of headache in areas including work, school, social life, and feelings such as fatigue, irritability and difficulty with concentration over the previous month.  Those with chronic migraine had an average score of 64 (indicating "severe impact") and those with episodic migraine had an average score of 58 (indicating "substantial impact").

Study co-investigator, Dawn C. Buse, PhD,  Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Director of Behavioral Medicine at the Montefiore Headache Center, Bronx, NY, said,  "These results reinforce the fact that the impact of headache is most significant among persons with chronic migraine when compared to persons with episodic migraine.  In addition, we find that headache impact is predicted by headache pain intensity, severity of associated symptoms, and the presence of depression."

The good news according to study co-investigator, Richard B. Lipton, MD, Professor of Neurology at Einstein and Director of the Montefiore Headache Center, is that chronic migraine, its symptoms, and comorbidities including depression and anxiety are very treatable.  Dr. Lipton advises, "Persons living with chronic migraine should speak with a knowledgeable health care professional about available treatments."