ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Headache and Neurogenic Pain
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1652468
Rising global burden of migraine among adolescents and young adults: A 30-year analysis (1990-2021)
Provisionally accepted
- 1Bejing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
- 2China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China
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Background: Migraine significantly impacts the physical and mental health of adolescents and young adults (AYA, aged 10-24 years). This study aims to assess global trends in migraine incidence, prevalence, and DALYs in this age group from 1990 to 2021, providing evidence to guide prevention and policy efforts.Materials and methods: Data were obtained from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 study, encompassing AYA's migraine burden across 204 countries and territories over the past 30 years, stratified by sex, age, Socio-demographic Index (SDI), location and year. The assessment analyzed incidence, prevalence, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).Results: Between 1990 and 2021, the global burden of migraine among AYA increased markedly in terms of absolute case numbers. Incident cases rose by 23.50%, prevalent cases by 24.82%, and DALYs by 24.94%. Despite these increases, the overall rates and agestandardized rates (ASRs) remained relatively stable, suggesting that population growth and aging are key drivers. The burden was consistently higher in females and in high-SDI regions; however, the rate of increase was greater in males, gradually narrowing the sex gap. Age-wise, those aged 10-14 had the highest incidence rate (45.9%), while the 20-24 group bore the greatest prevalence (39.8%) and DALY burden (39.9%). Among 21 regions, Western Europe recorded the highest ASIR (2272.50 per 100000), while Tropical Latin America had the highest ASPR (27542.29 per 100000) and ASDR (1011.78 per 100000). Nationally, Belgium had the highest ASIR (2758.02 per 100000), and Brazil had the highest ASPR (27592.69 per 100000) and ASDR (1013.43 per 100000). However, projections indicated that ASIR, ASPR, and ASDR will continue to rise by 2035. Conclusions: Global migraine burden surged (1990 -2021), with high-SDI regions facing highest DALYs and low-SDI areas underdiagnosed. AYA (10-14, especially females) show peak incidence due to hormonal/social factors. Despite projected ASR decline, cases will rise, demanding precision interventions: healthcare access, sex-specific strategies, and schoolbased programs. Urgent global efforts are required to promote equitable access to migraine care and prevention, as well as to advance research on emerging risk factors, such as air pollution, prolonged screen exposure, chronic stress, academic pressure, and others.
Keywords: Adolescent, Young Adult, Epidemiology, Global burden of disease, Migraine Disorders
Received: 26 Jun 2025; Accepted: 01 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hu, 李, Fan, Wang, Mao, Zhang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yifan Li, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China
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