Social burden of people with the migraine diagnosis in Japan: evidence from a population-based cross-sectional survey

OBJECTIVES: To quantify the social burden among Japanese migraine patients in the context of currently available migraine treatments, by comparison with non-migraine controls, and comparison of migraine patients currently taking prescription medication versus not taking prescription medication. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis. SETTING: Data from the population-based online self-administered Japan National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS) 2017. PARTICIPANTS: Respondents to the NHWS (n=30 001) were ≥18 years. Migraine patients were respondents with self-reported experience and physician diagnosis of migraine. Non-migraine controls reported no migraine experience. Migraine patients were subgrouped into currently taking prescription medication for migraine (Rx) and currently not taking prescription medication (non-Rx). METHODS: One-way analysis of variance tests were performed to compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL), work productivity and activity impairment and healthcare resource utilisation between migraine patients and matched non-migraine controls selected by 1:1 propensity score matching. Generalised linear models were used to compare outcomes and migraine related characteristics between Rx and non-Rx. RESULTS: Compared with matched controls, migraine patients (n=1265) had significantly lower HRQoL in terms of lower Physical Component Summary (48.36 vs 51.29, p<0.001), Mental Component Summary (44.65 vs 48.31, p<0.001), Role/Social Component Summary (41.78 vs 46.18, p<0.001) and mean EuroQol 5-Dimension index (0.77 vs 0.86, p<0.001) scores. Migraine patients experienced significantly higher absenteeism (6.95% vs 3.07%, p<0.001), presenteeism (32.73% vs 18.94%, p<0.001), work productivity loss (34.82% vs 20.03%, p<0.001) and daily activity impairment (35.70% vs 22.04%, p<0.001) and visited healthcare professionals more often (8.38 vs 4.57, p<0.001) than controls. No significant differences in these outcomes were found when comparing Rx (n=587) and non-Rx (n=678) patients. CONCLUSIONS: There is an unmet need for improved HRQoL and work productivity in Japanese migraine patients despite the currently available prescription medications, which are important factors to consider for future development of migraine therapies.