Epidemiologic and Clinical Characteristics of Migraine and Tension‐Type Headache in Korea

Abstract

This is the first population‐based epidemiologic study of chronic headache in South Korea. The diagnosis and classification of headache was according to the criteria of the International Headache Society. Sixty‐eight percent of the studied population experienced headache during the preceding year. The estimated prevalences were 22.3% for migraine (male 20.2%, female 24.3%) and 16.2% for tension‐type headache (male 17.8%, female 14.7%). In migraine, the 15‐to 19‐year age group showed maximal prevalence in both sexes (male 28.5%, female 34.7%). The prevalence of tension‐type headache was highest in the 50‐ to 59‐year age group in men(24.2%) and in the 20‐ to 29‐year age group in women(20.2%). In migraine, headache intensity was more severe in women than in men, but in tension‐type headache there was no difference in the severity of headache between the sexes. Phonophobia was the most common associated symptom of migraine (65.1%). In the migraine with aura group, the most common aura was visual disturbance, including scintillation and image distortion (82.3%). Only 24.4% of migraineurs and 12.3% of patients with tension‐type headache had ever consulted a doctor for headache. The prevalence of migraine was not lower than in western countries and much higher than in previous studies conducted in other Asian countries.