Burden of headache disorders among women of childbearing age in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2021 and future prediction to 2050.

BACKGROUND

Headache disorders are a group of highly prevalent and disabling neurological diseases worldwide, particularly affecting women of childbearing age (WCBA). This study aims to estimate the burdens and trends of headache disorders and their subtypes among WCBA from 1990 to 2021, and project the future disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) to 2050.

METHODS

Using data from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2021, the incidence, prevalence, and DALYs of headache disorders and their subtypes, tension-type headache (TTH) and migraine, among WCBA, were estimated from 1990 to 2021. The estimated annual percentage changes (EAPCs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the temporal changes in age-standardized rates. Projections of DALYs to 2050 were performed using Bayesian age-period-cohort (BAPC) model.

RESULTS

In 2021, there were 971.42 million headache disorders prevalent cases among WCBA globally, accounting for 645.83 million TTH cases and 493.94 million migraine cases. The age-standardized prevalence rate among WCBA globally remained relatively constant from 1990 to 2021. High-income North America reported the highest age-standardized prevalence rate of headache disorders (65,386.21/100,000), while Eastern Sub-Saharan Africa reported the lowest age-standardized prevalence rate (36,714.07/100,000) in 2021. East Asia experienced the most significant increases in the age-standardized prevalence rate of headache disorders from 1990 to 2021, with an EPAC of 0.25 (95% CI: 0.21 to 0.30), and its age-standardized DALY rate was projected to increase to 891.03/100,000.

CONCLUSION

There was no sign of improvement in the headache disorders burden from 1990 to 2021 globally. The escalating burden in East Asia necessitates targeted interventions and public health initiatives.