Consistent with data from previous studies, information from NHIS shows an inverse relationship between headache prevalence and income. It should be noted, however, that NHIS does not stratify income above 400% of the poverty level, so it is not possible to examine this association at higher levels of income. Within the categories of income that are reported, however, for the population as a whole and in all racial/ethnic groups, the prevalence of headache is inversely proportional to income level, although

disparities are less extreme among the Hispanic/Latino population. Selleckchem Gefitinib This inverse relationship is consistent with data from other population-based studies, including the American Migraine Studies 1 and 2,[7, 8] and the AMPP studies. The impact of migraine is substantial because of its high prevalence, accompanying significant disability, and risk for other comorbidities. Data

from the NAMCS and NHAMCS indicate that headache is among the top 20 reasons for outpatient medical visits and among the top 5 reasons for ED visits. As with prevalence, medical visits for migraine are more common among women than men. Based on NAMCS data, over 12 million office visits for migraine occurred in 2009, and over 6 million prescriptions were issued for antimigraine drugs. This suggests that roughly half of all outpatient visits for headache result in the prescription of an antimigraine agent, most of which are for a triptan. Sumatriptan accounted for almost half of all triptan prescriptions and rizatriptan and eletriptan together for about a third.

The reasons for this pattern of triptan prescriptions are not completely known. Cabozantinib As the first of 7 commercially available triptans, sumatriptan has always been the most prescribed triptan; its share of prescriptions may have increased since it became available in generic formulations in the late 2000s. The distribution of triptan prescriptions seems likely to change in the future as more triptans become available in less expensive generic versions. A large proportion of migraineurs who merit prophylactic therapy remain untreated. The mismatch between prevalence and appropriate treatment suggests that the public health impact MCE公司 of migraine will continue as a major problem until provider assessment and recognition of migraine improve. AMPP data extend our understanding of ED use in migraineurs by showing that a small proportion of the migraine population accounts for almost half of ED use for migraine. Further research should aim to characterize this population and identify interventions that might decrease ED use. Beyond the burden of migraine itself, migraine confers increased risk for other physical and psychiatric comorbidities, and rates of these comorbidities are highest among those with CM. Our aim was to summarize the most recent large-scale data on prevalence and impact of migraine within the US population.