Information about the prevalence of migraine headaches comes from several well-designed population-based surveys using the International Headache Society criteria for diagnosis. The estimates from these studies are quite consistent.

American Migraine Study & American Migraine Study II

The researchers who conducted these studies in 1989 and 1999 mailed a questionnaire to a representative sample of households in the US. Eight questions about headache characteristics were asked. These included whether the person experienced pain on one side of their head, whether the pain was throbbing, whether they experienced vomiting, nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and other symptoms such as numbness.

Questions about headache disability, severity, and frequency were also asked. In order to identify those who suffered from migraines, modified IHS criteria were applied to questionnaire responses. An additional study verified that the modified IHS criteria were able to identify migraineurs accurately.

Results from the first American Migraine Study found a prevalence of 17.6% in females and 5.7% in males, which was similar to findings from the American Migraine Study II where the prevalence was 18.2% in females and 6.5% in males.

See formal abstracts for the AMS I or AMS II study.

Philadelphia County Study

This study sampled households in Philadelphia County using random-digit dialing. This county was selected because it has a diverse population that is similar to that of the entire US. A computer-assisted telephone interview was conducted and slightly modified IHS criteria were used to identify those suffering from migraine. This identification method has also been shown to be accurate when compared to standard physician-based diagnosis using IHS criteria.

One-year prevalence estimates from this study were 17.2% for females and 6.0% in males.

Baltimore County Migraine Study

A computer-assisted telephone interview survey was conducted in this demographically diverse county. Questions were asked about headache duration, frequency, location, and other symptoms. Migraineurs were then identified using IHS criteria. The results from this survey were similar to the other population-based surveys, reporting a migraine prevalence of 19% in females and 8% in males.

Another large population-based study reported migraine prevalence of 4.1% overall (Stang, 1993). However, this was based on self-report, not IHS criteria and is considered an under-estimate of true migraine prevalence.

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