International Study Finds Migraine to be Associated with Substantial Disability and Impairments
According to research presented at the 65th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Headache Society (AHS), migraine is associated with substantial disability and burden including impairments in work/activity and poor quality of life, as measured across 5 countries. The Chronic Migraine Epidemiology and Outcomes-International (CaMEO-I) study applied a single methodology to populations in multiple countries to provide a comprehensive understanding of the disabling impact of migraine on patients worldwide.
CaMEO-I consisted of a cross-sectional, web-based survey which took place from 2021 to 2022 in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan. The study included 14,492 participants who were identified as having migraine based on the American Migraine Study/American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study diagnostic questionnaire and criteria from the modified International Classification of Headache Disorders, third edition. Researchers evaluated participants’ migraine burden on work/activity using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI). Burden on quality of life was assessed with the Migraine-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MSQ), which includes 14 items evaluating the impact of migraine on daily functioning in 3 domains: 1) the role function restrictive domain, 2) role function preventive domain, and 3) emotional function domain.
Statistical analysis of questionnaire scores from every surveyed country showed a significant association between migraine and impairments in work/activity. Participants in each country also reported significant burden on all 3 domains of quality of life. According to results from the WPAI, the mean percentage of work missed ranged from 4.3% to 9%, mean percentage of work impaired ranged from 31.2% to 47.8%, and mean percentage of activity impairment ranged from 39.3% to 50.7%.
The study findings suggest that disability is a pervasive result of migraine regardless of a patient’s country of origin. The study authors are from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, MIST Research, the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center of Harvard Medical School, the Institute of Neurology, and AbbVie.