The burden of migraine and tension-type headache in Asia from 1990 to 2021.

Background: In recent years, headache diseases have spread throughout the world, causing great suffering and even severe disability to patients, and increasing the burden on health care systems. However, studies of specific regions are rare. The purpose of our study is to comprehensively analyze the current situation and trends of headache diseases in Asia between 1990 and 2021, to provide details of headache diseases in Asia, and to provide scientific data to support health development strategies.

Methods: Data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 database were used to calculate the incidence, prevalence and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of headache disorders in Asia from 1990 to 2021. Differences between years, ages, sexes and countries were also assessed, and we evaluated the correlation between epidemiological and sociodemographic indices (SDIs).

Result: In 2021, there were approximately 683,514,637 cases of migraine in Asia. Meanwhile, there are now 1,130,221,326 cases associated with tension-type headache (TTH) in Asia. Specifically, the age-standardized DALYs (ASDR) [607 cases per 100,000 people (95% UI: 70 - 1,363)] for migraine were highest in Southeast Asia, and the ASDR [422 cases per 100,000 people (95% UI: 86-938)] was lowest in high-income countries of the Asia-Pacific region. ASDR [67 cases per 100,000 people (95% UI: 18-236)] was highest for TTH in Central Asia and lowest for ASDR [43 cases per 100,000 people (95% UI: 13-141)] in East Asia. In addition, women are the key population for migraine and TTH prevalence. In Asia, there were negative and positive correlations between migraine and TTH and SDI, respectively.

Conclusions: Headache disorders pose a serious threat to the quality of life and safety of patients in Asia, increasing the burden on society, and this impact will continue to grow. Our findings suggest that active public awareness, improved guidelines, and better disease management are necessary to expand the public and healthcare system's attention to headache disorders, and thereby gain a greater advantage in combating the burden of headache disorders in the future.