Epidemiology
Worldwide, migraines affect more than 10% of people. In the United States, about 6% of men and 18% of women get a migraine in a given year, with a lifetime risk of about 18% and 43% respectively. In Europe, migraines affect 12–28% of people at some point in their lives with about 6–15% of adult men and 14–35% of adult women getting at least one yearly. Rates of migraines are slightly lower in Asia and Africa than in Western countries. Chronic migraines occur in approximately 1.4 to 2.2% of the population.
These figures vary substantially with age: migraines most commonly start between 15 and 24 years of age and occur most frequently in those 35 to 45 years of age. In children, about 1.7% of 7 year olds and 3.9% of those between 7 and 15 years have migraines, with the condition being slightly more common in boys before puberty. During adolescence migraines becomes more common among women and this persists for the rest of the lifespan, being two times more common among elderly females than males. In women migraines without aura is more common than migraines with aura, however in men the two types occur with similar frequency.
During perimenopause symptoms often get worse before decreasing in severity. While symptoms resolve in about two thirds of the elderly, in between 3 and 10% they persist.
Read more about this topic: Migraine