Prevalence and clinical characteristics of migraine in France

Objective: To determine the prevalence and clinical features of migraine and related headache types in France. Methods: The authors recruited a population of subjects with headache representative of the national population using a stratified sampling method. They screened 10,585 subjects aged 15 and older who were representative of the general population. They identified 1,486 of these as having headaches, and these subjects were subsequently interviewed for information on clinical features, natural history, and functional impact of headache. The authors categorized subjects based on the International Headache Society (IHS) classification and assessed disability using the MIDAS questionnaire. Results: The authors found a standardized prevalence for migraine (IHS categories 1.1 and 1.2) of 7.9% (11.2% for women and 4.0% for men) and 9.1% for migrainous disorder (IHS category 1.7). Migraine attacks were associated with a considerable degree of handicap in activities of daily living, with a MIDAS grade distribution of 74.7% (grade 1), 13.3% (grade 2), 7.7% (grade 3), and 4.3% (grade 4). The prevalence of migraine with MIDAS grade 3 or 4 was 1.6%. Conclusions: The prevalence of migraine (IHS categories 1.1 and 1.2) in France is 7.9%, and that of total migraine is 17.0%; this does not seem to have evolved over the past 10 years.