How common are headaches and especially migraine in the general population?
There are several studies that have asked this question. It was generally estimated that in Europe 50.5% of the general population will have a primary headache (mainly migraine and tension-type headache) at least once a year. Women's 57.6% and Men's 41%. 10 to 12% of the citizens of Western societies suffer from migraine and 40% from tension headache.
Ages
Migraine is most common in ages 25-55 which are the most productive ages. At ages younger than 10, migraine is slightly more common in boys. This gender ratio soon changes, however, and remains consistently more frequent in favor of women in all older age groups. Thus, a study of 12- and 13-year-olds showed that 14 girls out of 1000 had migraine with aura and 17 out of 1000 had migraine without aura (3.5 & 10 out of 1000 are respectively for boys...) and the difference widens even further in adults.
Women
In women with migraine the pain crisis lasts more than 24 hours at 71% while the corresponding percentage for men is 48%.
If someone has a 1st degree relative with migraine WITH aura they are 3.8 times more likely to also have migraine than someone unrelated to migraine. The same risk in migraine WITHOUT aura is 1.9 times increased.
Percentages
7.6% of migraine sufferers in the US go to the doctor over 12 times a year for their migraines!! The total direct cost of migraines in the US is $1 billion per year (100 $ per patient per year on average). 80% of patients consider their pain severe or very severe.
A study from Canada showed that 90% of migraine sufferers report being unable to do household chores due to the migraine, 30% cancel family or social activities due to pain, while 66% feel they are letting their relatives down due to the attacks
of migraine. But also 29% of migraine partners believes that there is friction due to migraine and 20-60% believes that migraine has a negative effect on their relationship.
Epilogue
Headaches and migraines are therefore diseases that affect a large part of the population at many social and interpersonal levels.
