Burden of migraine in the United States - Disability and economic costs

Background: Migraine is a common disabling disease but its economic burden has not been adequately quantified. Objective: To estimate the burden of migraine in the United States with res pect to disability and economic costs. Methods: The following data sources were used: published data, the Baltimor e County Migraine Study, MEDSTAT's MarketScan medical claims data set, and statistics from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Disab ility was expressed as bedridden days. Charger for migraine-related treatme nt were used as direct cost inputs. The human capital approach was used in the estimation of indirect costs. Results Migraineurs required 3.8 bed rest days for men and 5.6 days for wom en each year, resulting in a total of 112 million bedridden days. Migraine costs American employers about $13 billion a year because of missed workday s and impaired work function; close to $8 billion was directly due to misse d workdays. Patients of both sexes aged 30 to 49 years incurred higher indi rect costs compared with younger or older employed patients. Annual direct medical costs for migraine care were about $1 billion and about $100 was sp ent per diagnosed patient. Physician office visits accounted for about 60% of all costs; in contrast, emergency department visits contributed less tha n 1% of the direct costs. Conclusions: The economic burden of migraine predominantly falls on patient s and their employers in the form of bedridden days and lost productivity. Various screening and treatment regimens should be evaluated to identify op portunities to reduce the disease burden.