title: Age- and sex-specific incidence rates of migraine with and without visual aura.
abstract: Age- and sex-specific incidence rates for the onset of migraine headache with and without preceding visual aura were estimated from a population-based telephone interview survey conducted between March 1986 and June 1987 of 10,169 randomly selected residents of Washington County, Maryland, between the ages of 12 and 29 years. A total of 392 males and 1,018 females were identified as having a history of migraine. Of these, 27% of male cases and 28% of female cases were defined as having migraine with visual aura. Among both males and females, the incidence rate for migraine with visual aura appears to have peaked as much as 3-5 years earlier than the age peak for migraine without aura. For males, the age-specific incidence for migraine with visual aura appears to have peaked on or before 5 years of age at 6.6/1,000 person-years, or possibly higher. In contrast, the highest incidence for migraine without aura occurred between 10 and 11 years of age at 10.1/1,000 person-years. New cases of migraine were uncommon among males in their late 20s. The initial onset of migraine headache begins at a later age among females than among males. For females, the highest incidence of migraine with aura occurred between 12 and 13 years of age at 14.1/1,000 person-years; the highest incidence for migraine without aura occurred between 14 and 17 years of age at 18.9/1,000 person-years. In contrast to males, new onset of migraine was relatively common among females in their late 20s.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205.
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Linet
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Celentano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Van Natta
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ziegler
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone; D014796:Visual Perception