Severe Headaches More Common Than You Think: 15% Americans Affected!

Headaches are common. Almost everyone has headaches occasionally. But when you repeatedly have headaches, it is a symptom of headache disorder. Headache disorder is the most common disorder of the human nervous system all over the globe.

The most prevalent headache disorder is migraine which causes severe throbbing pain on one side. Additionally, you may have nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound. Some people have an aura during migraine, which results in vision loss or difficulty in speaking.

The migraine attack lasts for a few hours to days and affects your daily activities. Migraines are triggered by weather conditions, stress, smile or depression, anxiety, and diabetes.

It’s estimated that migraine affects 15 percent of adults in the United States and women have twice as high as migraine compared to men. Interestingly, the prevalence is higher in young adults than older adults above 65.

This article discusses statistics related to headaches, specifically severe headaches and migraines. We hope to raise awareness of the prevalence of this issue through the article.

Contents

Prevalence Of Headaches In U.S. Adults

A survey was done in U.S. adults with severe headaches or migraine from 1997 to 2016. In 2016, 15.5 percent of the adults in the United States reported having severe headaches in three months.

In 2010 and 2011, 16.6 percent of the adults reported having severe headaches in three months, which was the highest in the survey period.

In 2007 12.3 percent of the adults in the U.s reported having severe headaches or migraine, which was least in the survey period.¹

Prevalence Of Headaches In U.S. Adults By Gender

There was a survey in U.S. adults with severe headaches or migraine between 1997 and 2016 by gender. The results showed that in 2016 10.3 percent of male adults in the U.S. had severe headaches or migraine during the previous three months, which was 20.5 percent in the case of female adults.

In 2015, 22.5 female adults had severe headaches or migraines, which were highest throughout the survey period. In that year, only 9.8 percent of the male adults reported severe headaches or migraine in the previous three months.²

Prevalence Of Headaches In U.S. Adults By Age

The survey was done on U.S. adults from year 1997-to 2016. In 2016, 17.9 percent of adults between ages 18 to 44 years reported severe headaches or migraine for a period of three months.⁴

Prevalence Of Headaches In U.S. Women By Age

The survey was done in U.S. women of different age groups with severe headaches or migraine in three months in 2016. It was found that 23.5 percent of women aged 18 to 44 years had severe headaches or migraine. Again only 7.5 percent of older women above 75 years old reported severe headaches or migraine.³

Percentage Of Headaches In U.S. Adults By Ethnicity

The survey was done on all adults in the United States from 1997 to 2016 by ethnicity. In 2016, 9.9 percent of all Asian adults in the U.S. reported severe headaches or migraines for three months.⁵

Percentage Of Headaches In U.S. Adults By Region

The survey was carried out in U.S. adults from 1997-2016 by region. In 2016 16.4 percent of U.S. adults in the Midwest reported severe headaches or migraine, whereas, in 1997,17.1 percent of U. S adults in the south reported severe headaches.⁶

Percentage Of Headaches In U.S. Adults By Frequency

The survey was conducted on U.S. adults from 16th February to 27th February 2017. It was found that only 10 percent of people had severe headaches multiple times a week. Only 3 percent of people had headaches every day^.7

Percentage Of Headaches In U.S. Adults By Frequency (Gender)

A survey was done on U.S. adults from 16th to 27th February 2017. It was found that 11 percent of female adults and 9 percent of male adults had severe headaches or migraine multiple times a week. Only 3 percent of male and female adults reported severe headaches every day.⁸

Percentage Of Headaches In U.S. Adults By Frequency(Age)

A survey was carried out in the United States from 16th to 27th February 2017. There were 1470 respondents. It was found that 14 percent of respondents of age 18 to 30 years had headaches or migraine multiple times a week.⁹

Percentage Of Headaches In U.S. Adults By Frequency (Ethnicity)

A survey was carried out in the United States from 16th to 27th February 2017, in which there were 1470 respondents. It was found that 15 percent of Hispanic respondents reported headaches multiple times a week. In contrast, only 6 percent of African Americans said of having headaches numerous times in a week.¹⁰

Percentage Of Adults In Relieving Headache

The survey was carried out in the United States from 16th to 27th February 2017, and the number of respondents was 739. It was found that 54 percent of respondents prefer to sleep to relieve headaches, and 31 percent prefer to be in darken the room to alleviate headaches.¹¹

Percentage Of Adults In United States By Selecting Techniques To Relief Headache By Gender

The survey period between 16th to 27th February shows that 38 percent of females prefer to darken the room to relieve a headache compared to 21 percent of males.¹²

Percentage Of Adults In United States By Selecting Products To Relieve Headache(Gender)

The survey period between 16th to 27th February shows that 11 percent of male adults had used acupuncture to relieve headaches compared to 5 percent of females.¹³

Percentage Of Adults In United States By Selecting Products To Relieve Headache By Ethnicity

The survey period between 16th to 27th February shows that 46 percent of white respondents used analgesic tablets to relieve headaches in comparison to 35 percent of African Americans.¹⁴

Best Headache Relief Measures

The survey period between 16th to 27th February shows that 53 percent of respondents stated conventional medicine proved to be the best headache relief.¹⁵

Best Headache Relief Measures By Age

The survey period between 16th to 27th February shows that 59 percent aged 31 to 45 years stated conventional medicine proved to be the best headache relief.¹⁶

Best Migraine Treatment Most Often Tried In United States

The survey period between May to June 2016 shows that 94 percent of respondents had tried over-the-counter drugs to relieve migraine pain.¹⁷

The researchers surveyed in May 2017 found that 39 percent of respondents missed work-related opportunities because of migraine.¹⁸

Percentage Of U.S. Adults Who Missed Select Events Because Of Migraine

The researchers surveyed in May 2017 and found that 82 percent of respondents missed regular days of work because of migraine.¹⁹

The researchers surveyed in September 2017 and found that 58 percent of people stated that one of the most common social stigmas associated with migraine is overreaction.²⁰

Percentage Of U.S. Adults With Migraine Who Felt Their Boss Does Not Understand The Impact Of Migraine

The researchers surveyed in May 2017 found that 68 percent of respondents with migraine felt that their boss does not understand the impact of migraine.²¹

Percentage Of U.S. Adults By Symptoms Of Migraines

The researchers surveyed in May 2017 and found that sensitivity to light was a symptom for 91 percent of people with migraine.²²

Percentage Of U.S. Adults By Emotions Felt Due To Migraines

The researchers surveyed in May 2017 and found that 82 percent of respondents felt frustrated because of migraines.²³

Percentage Of U.S. Adults By Comorbities Due To Migraine

The survey period of 2017 shows that 50 percent of respondents with migraine suffered from depression.²⁴

Percentage Of U.S. Adults By Migraine Duration

The survey period of 2017 shows that 35 percent of respondents stated that the average duration of migraine is less than 6 hours.²⁵

Percentage Of U.S. Adults By Causes Of Migraines

May 2017 shows that 38 percent of respondents believed migraines have specific biological issues.²⁶

Percentage Of U.S. Adults By Migraine Trigger

The survey period from May to June 2016 shows that 62 percent of respondents believed that stress triggers migraine attacks.²⁷

Percentage Of U.S. Adults With Migraine By Cost

The survey was conducted from May to June 2016 and found that 36 percent of respondents spend more than $1000 in a year on migraine.²⁸

Percentage Of U.S. Adults Considering Migraine As Disability

The survey was conducted in September 2017 and found that 34 percent of migraine suffers said that migraine is a disability.²⁹

Wrap Up

Migraine is a neurological disease that affects nearly 148 million people in the World. There is no permanent cure for migraine. However, there are resources to help patients manage their symptoms of migraine.

I hope this article has given you helpful information about headaches. Please don’t forget to share this article with someone searching for this information. You can ask us your queries related to headaches, particularly migraines, in the comments section. We will be happy to answer all your queries.

References