ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Headache and Neurogenic Pain
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1686288
The Global and Regional Burden and Trends of Migraine from 1990 to 2021: Global Burden of Disease Study 2021
Provisionally accepted- 1Jing’an District, Shanghai (Medical School of Tongji University) Pengpu Xincun Community Health Care Center Internet Hospital, Shanghai, China
- 2Shanghai Fourth People's Hospital, Shanghai, China
- 3Shanghai Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China
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Background:Migraine is a common disabling neurological disorder that affects the quality of human daily life and mental health, potentially leading to disability and imposing a substantial disease burden. There is currently a lack of literature analysis on the global burden and changing trends of migraines. Therefore, this study is of great significance for the development of effective management and prevention strategies for migraine by analyzing the global burden of migraine and its changing trends. Methods: We obtained data on the incidence, prevalence, and DALYs of migraine by region and year from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The EAPC and 95%CI were used to evaluate the time trend of disease burden, and factors that may affect the EAPC were analyzed. The burden of migraine was analyzed based on the SDI. Frontier analysis was used to visually demonstrate the burden of development levels in various regions, and the trends of migraine incidence, prevalence, and DALYs over the next decade were predicted. Results: In 2021, the global number of prevalent cases, incident cases, and DALYs for migraine were 1.158 billion, 90.18 million, and 43.38 million, compared with 1990, the percentage changes were 58%, 42%, and 58%, respectively. In 2021, the ASIR, ASPR, and ASDR of migraine were the highest in areas with high SDI. Its prevalence, incidence, and DALYs were 15,365.1, 1222.5, and 573.6 per 100,000 people. From 1990 to 2021, the ASDR showed an upward trend globally and in all regions, among which ASIR and ASPR in global, China, East Asia, high, High-middle SDI regions were on the rise, while they showed a downward trend in low, Low-middle SDI regions. Frontier analysis showed that areas with high SDI generally had greater potential for improvement. We used a predictive model to estimate that ASIR, ASPR and ASDR of migraine were all on the rise. Conclusions: From 1990 to 2021, the global burden of migraine has increased significantly, especially in middle SDI region. This study highlights the importance of tailored interventions aimed at addressing migraine and thus contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the World Health Organization.
Keywords: Migraine, disease burden, Frontier analysis, Trends, GBD 2021
Received: 19 Aug 2025; Accepted: 17 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lu, Li, Gan, You, Wang, Guo, Shi and Liu. 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:
Jun Shi, shijundoctor@163.com
Xiao-ying Liu, 303425290@qq.com
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