The following is a summary of “Societal and economic burden of migraine in Spain: results from the 2020 National Health and Wellness Survey,” published in the March 2024 issue of Pain by García-Azorín et al.

Researchers started a retrospective study to assess the multifaceted impact of migraine on healthcare resource utilization (HCRU), work productivity, mood disorders, and economic burden.

They conducted a case-control study embedded in a cross-sectional analysis of patient-reported data gathered (December 30, 2019, and April 20, 2020) within the National Health and Wellness Survey framework, involving participants from Spain. The study included adults (aged ≥18 years) diagnosed with migraine by a physician and experiencing at least one monthly headache day (MHD) in the preceding 30 days. They evaluated HCRU, health-related quality-of-life, depression scores, work and activity impairment, and the related direct and indirect costs for four groups of migraine patients categorized by headache frequency (MHD: 1–3, 4–7, 8–14, ≥15) and compared them with a control group without migraine, matched to migraine cases through a propensity score based on demographic and clinical factors.

The results showed 595 individuals with active migraine, 461 (77.4%) experienced fewer than 8 MHDs, 134 (22.6%) had 8 or more MHDs., and 1,190 non-migraine matched controls. Migraine patients exhibited poorer mental and physical health functioning (SF-12 MCS: 41.9 vs. 44.7, P<0.001; SF-12 PCS: 48.6 vs. 51.5, P<0.001), lower self-reported health (EQ-5D VAS: 65.8 vs. 73.5, P<0.001), higher depression severity (PHQ-9: 8.9 vs. 6.1, P<0.001), and greater overall work impairment (WPAI: 41.4 vs. 25.5, P<0.001). Those with migraine had increased HCRU, with double the hospitalization rates (17.0% vs. 8.3%, P<0.001) and 1.6 times higher ER visit rates (51.4% vs. 31.2%, P<0.001) compared to controls. Migraine led to higher annual costs associated with HCRU (€894 vs. €530) and productivity losses (€8,000 vs. €4,780) per person. Furthermore, respondents with more MHDs experienced worse outcomes and higher costs, while those with 1–3 MHDs incurred a 51.3% cost increase.

Investigators concluded that migraine significantly increased healthcare resource utilization, reduced work productivity, and imposed a substantial economic burden on patients, with the impact worsening with increased headache frequency.

Source: thejournalofheadacheandpain.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s10194-024-01740-3