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Chronic Migraine: Epidemiology and Disease Burden

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Abstract

Chronic migraine is a common and disabling complication of migraine with a population prevalence of about 2%. Emerging evidence suggests that episodic migraine and chronic migraine differ not only in degree, but also in kind. Compared with patients with episodic migraine, those with chronic migraine have worse socioeconomic status, reduced health-related quality of life, increased headache-related burden (including impairment in occupational, social, and family functioning), and greater psychiatric and medical comorbidities. Each year, approximately 2.5% of patients with episodic migraine develop new-onset chronic migraine (ie, chronification). Understanding the natural disease course, improving treatment and management, and preventing the onset could reduce the enormous individual and societal burden of chronic migraine, and thus, have become important goals of headache research. This review provides a summary of the history of nomenclature and diagnostic criteria, as well as recent studies focusing on the epidemiology, natural history, and burden of chronic migraine.

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Disclosures

Dr. Aubrey N. Manack is a full-time employee of Allergan, Inc. Dr. Dawn C. Buse has served as a consultant to Allergan, and has received grants or has grants pending with Allergan, Merck Pharmaceuticals, Endo Pharmaceuticals, OrthoMcNeil Pharmaceuticals, and GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Richard B. Lipton is a member of the advisory boards of Allergan, Merck, and MAP Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; has served as a consultant for Allergan; has received grants or has grants pending with Allergan, Merck Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, and Bristol-Myers Squibb; has received payment for manuscript preparation from Allergan; has received payment for the development of educational presentations from Allergan; and has received travel expense compensation from Allergan and Merck.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Allergan, Inc., 2525 Dupont Drive, Irvine, CA, 92612, USA

    Aubrey N. Manack

  2. Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Montefiore Medical Center, 1575 Blondell Avenue, Suite 225, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA

    Dawn C. Buse

  3. Department of Neurology and Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1165 Morris Park Avenue, Rousso Building, Room 330, Bronx, NY, 10461, USA

    Richard B. Lipton

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  1. Aubrey N. Manack
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  2. Dawn C. Buse
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  3. Richard B. Lipton
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Correspondence to Aubrey N. Manack.

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Manack, A.N., Buse, D.C. & Lipton, R.B. Chronic Migraine: Epidemiology and Disease Burden. Curr Pain Headache Rep 15, 70–78 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-010-0157-z

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