Prevalence of reported migraine headaches in Canadian adolescents.

OBJECTIVE To examine self-reported prevalence data for migraine among adolescent Canadians and to explore how reported migraine treatment varies by age. METHODS We analyzed the microdata files of the Canadian National Population Health Survey (1996-1997). Respondents reported whether they had "migraine headaches diagnosed by a health professional". They also reported whether they received "any treatment or medication for migraine headaches", with treatments subdivided into drug, diet or "other". RESULTS 99.9% of 173,216 eligible respondents reported whether they had migraine headaches. Migraine was reported by 2.4% of Canadian youth aged 12-14 years and by 5.0% of 15-19 year-olds compared to 7.2% of adults aged > or = 20 years of age (p< 0.0001, chi-square). Active treatment was used by 51.0% - higher by females (53.1%) than males (44.7%) (p<0.0001 chi-square). Treatment was used by 45.1% of 12-14 year-olds, by 45.7% of 15-19 year-olds and by 51.5% of those > or = 20 years (p=0.0027). The nature of the active treatment choice (drug, diet or other) did not significantly vary within the age groups studied. CONCLUSIONS We present robust estimates of self-report diagnosed migraine prevalence, derived from a large nationally representative population survey. Estimates of the prevalence of active treatment for migraine provide insight into the burden of migraine within this population.