Headache prevalence stayed stable while migraine accounted for much of the disability
This brief uses only the study abstract: global headache prevalence changed little, while disability estimates differed by sex and headache type.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Headache disorders affected a large share of the global population, and prevalence remained broadly stable over the study period. Migraine accounted for much of the estimated disability, with higher headache-related disability rates among females than males. These population estimates describe the scale of the burden, without testing whether any particular treatment prevents disability.
Estimates depend on modelling and disability weights. The abstract gives too little detail to assess how differences among underlying studies affected uncertainty, and it reports no treatment tests.
What researchers found
People with headache disorders
Global prevalence count in 2023; descriptive population estimate without a treatment comparator.
How burden was estimated
Researchers estimated headache prevalence and time spent with symptoms, then applied disability weights to calculate years lived with disability. This measures population burden rather than counting individuals with diagnosed complications.
How medication overuse was counted
Medication-overuse headache was assigned to the burden of the underlying migraine or tension-type headache. This accounting choice helps interpret the totals; it does not test whether changing medication use reduces an individual's symptoms.
The original publication
Global, regional, and national burden of headache disorders, 1990-2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023.
GBD 2023 Headache Collaborators
Lancet Neurol · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41240916
- Record checked
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