How Many U.S. Adults Are Bothered a Lot by Headache or Migraine, by Sex and Age

How many American adults are badly troubled by headache or migraine? The National Health Interview Survey, run by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics through household interviews with a sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population, put the question to adults in 2021.

How it was asked

Adults were first asked how often they had had pain in the past 3 months: never, some days, most days or every day. Anyone who answered some days, most days or every day was then asked how much headache or migraine had bothered them over those 3 months — not at all, a little, a lot, or somewhere in between. The figures below count those who answered “a lot.”

What it found

In 2021, 4.3% of adults aged 18 and older had been bothered a lot by headache or migraine in the past 3 months. The gap between the sexes was wide: 6.2% of women against 2.2% of men.

Women reported it more often than men in every age group:

For both men and women, the share was lowest at 65 and older.

Percentage of adults bothered a lot by headache or migraine in the past 3 months, by sex and age group, 2021. Error bars show 95% confidence intervals. Image from CDC’s page.

Sources

Based on "QuickStats: Percentage of Adults Aged ≥18 Years Who Have Been Bothered a Lot by Headache or Migraine in the Past 3 Months, by Sex and Age Group — National Health Interview Survey, 2021," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, using data from the National Center for Health Statistics’ National Health Interview Survey, 2021; a work of the United States government in the public domain.