The International Burden of Migraine Study (IBMS): study design, methodology, and baseline cohort characteristics

• Published in: Cephalalgia Vol. 31; no. 10; p. 1116
• Main Authors: Payne, Krista A, Varon, Sepideh F, Kawata, Ariane K, Yeomans, Karen, Wilcox, Teresa K, Manack, Aubrey, Buse, Dawn C, Lipton, Richard B, Goadsby, Peter J, Blumenfeld, Andrew M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01-07-2011
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Cohort Studies; Cost of Illness; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data Collection - methods; Female; Humans; Internet; Male; Middle Aged; Migraine Disorders - epidemiology; Research Design; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1468-2982
• DOI: 10.1177/0333102411410610

To describe a survey methodology to evaluate headache characteristics and burden and to present baseline characteristics for the international cohort of survey participants.
A targeted, web-based methodology was used to recruit and survey subjects with migraine in 10 countries. Based on reported symptoms, subjects meeting ICHD-2 criteria for migraine were included; eligible subjects were classified as chronic (≥ 15 headache days per month) or episodic (< 15 headache days per month). Outcomes included sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, resource utilization, disability, health-related quality of life, anxiety, depression and productivity.
Of 23,312 survey respondents, 11,897 were eligible and 9715 (81.7%) completed the survey; subjects were 81.5% female; 5.7% (n = 555) had chronic migraine.
This is the first large international cohort of persons with chronic and episodic migraine studied using a web-based approach, a methodology well suited to the study of the burden of migraines.