Prevalence of migraine in Taipei, Taiwan: a population-based survey

We conducted the first population-based migraine survey in Taipei, Taiwan, using a validated questionnaire administered by interviewers during the per iod from August 1997 to June 1998. Our target population comprised ail indi viduals (age greater than or equal to 15 years) in 1400 randomly selected h ouseholds. Migraine diagnoses were made according to the classification cri teria of migraine without aura proposed by the International Headache Socie ty, 1988, except that attacks with a duration of between 2 h and 4 h were a lso included. Of the 4434 eligible subjects in the 1211 respondent househol ds, 3377 (76%) completed the questionnaire. After adjustment for age and se x distribution according to the population structure, the prevalence of mig raine was 9.1% (F/M 14.4%/4.5%). Fifty-four percent of the subjects with mi graine had consulted a physician about their headaches in the past year. Ho wever, only 18% of them reported that their migraine had been diagnosed by physicians. This study found that Taipei residents have the highest migrain e prevalence of all Chinese populations studied, although it is still in th e low range of prevalence compared with the results from Western countries.