Economic Impact of Migraine

Although heterogeneous in nature, migraine is a markedly disabling condition for a large proportion of sufferers. As such, migraine imposes a huge economic burden on society from lost work time and reduced productivity, amounting to several tens of millions of dollars every year.

• Data from the USA show that migraineurs require between 3.8 (men) and 5.6 (women) days of bed rest a year, resulting in 112 million bed-ridden days per annum. This is estimated to cost US employers close to $8 billion due to missed workdays.^[1]
• Patients with migraine self-report that they are only 46% effective when working with symptoms of migraine. Each year, migraineurs lose 8.3 days due to absenteeism and 11.2 days due to reduced work days, resulting in an estimated annual cost to employers of US$ 3309 per patient.^[2]
• The total healthcare costs of a family with a migraineur are 70% higher than those of a family without a migraineur.^[3]

References:
1. Hu XH, Markson LE, Lipton RB, Stewart WF, Berger ML. Burden of migraine in the United States: disability and economic costs. Arch Intern Med 1999;159: 813-8.
2. Gerth WC, Carides GW, Dasbach EJ, Visser WH, Santanello NC. The multinational impact of migraine symptoms on healthcare utilisation and work loss. Pharmacoeconomics 2001;19: 197-206.
3. Stang PE, Crown WH, Bizier R, Chatterton ML, White R. The family impact and costs of migraine. Am J Manag Care 2004;10: 313-20.