Migraines: Common cause of lost workdays
Of the many types of headaches, migraines are most likely to cause a worker to miss work, according to a recent study.
Brian S. Schwartz, MD, a headache researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, found migraines were much more likely to result in lost workdays than tension-type headaches, even though tension-type headaches were more common (JOEM 1997; 39:320-327). Schwartz and his colleagues studied 13,343 adults with headaches over a one-year period. They found that 13.2% had migraine headaches, and 31.8% had tension-type headaches. Of the whole group, 9.4% missed work more than rarely due to headache, and 31% reported that their work level was reduced because of headaches even if they did not miss work that day. Of those who said their work level was reduced, 9.2% said it was reduced more than 50%.
Among those reporting headaches, the researchers calculated they lost the equivalent of 4.2 work days per year when considering actual days away from the job and reduced effectiveness when on the job. They also determined that 57% of actual lost workdays were due to migraine and 43% to tension-type headaches. Concerning reduced effectiveness, 36% were due to migraine and 64% were caused by tension-type headaches.
Schwartz says the results show that migraine headaches are serious and have substantial impact in the workplace.
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