Employment and work impact of chronic migraine and episodic migraine.

Abstract

To determine work impact of chronic migraine (CM) versus episodic migraine (EM). Data were from the 2005 American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention study, a longitudinal population survey of more than 11,000 migraineurs. Lost productive time (LPT) was measured as missed work hours plus reduced productivity hour equivalents. Those with CM were 19% less likely to be working for pay compared with migraineurs with <or=3 headache-days/month. On average, those with CM lost 4.6 hours/wk from headache compared with 1.1 hours for those with <or=3 headache-days/month. Those with 10 to 14 headache-days/month or with CM accounted for 9.1% of employed migraineurs, 20.8% of work-related LPT, and 35% of the overall lost work time when considering medical leave and unemployment. The work impact of CM and high frequency EM will be underestimated if employment status is not measured.