Multinational descriptive analysis of the real-world burden of headache using the Migraine Buddy application

A large proportion of headache sufferers do not routinely seek medical care. App-based technologies permit the collection of real-world data over time and between countries that can help assess true burden of headache. This study used a mobile phone application to collect information on the real-world burden of self-diagnosed headache and to describe its impact on daily life in headache sufferers who do not routinely seek medical advice.

This retrospective, non-interventional, cross-sectional study analysed self-reported data from users of the 'Migraine Buddy' app. The main objective was to describe self-reported characteristics of headache and migraine (triggers, duration, frequency), treatment patterns and impact on daily activity in headache sufferers from Australia, Brazil, France, Germany and Japan. Data including demographics, self-diagnosed episode type (headache/migraine), duration, potential triggers and impact on daily activity are reported. All analyses were exploratory and performed per country.

Self-reported data were collected from 60,474 users between August 2016 and August 2018. Approximately 90% of users were females; >60% were aged 24-45 years. Over one-third of users reported having two to five episodes of headache or migraine per month; impact included impaired concentration, being slower and missing work or social activities. Variations across countries were observed; within countries, episode characteristics were very similar for self-diagnosed headache versus migraine.

Headache tracking was used to describe the experience, impact and self-management approaches of migraine and headache sufferers in a real-world setting. Headache disorders present a range of important issues for patients that deserve more study and reinforce the need for better approaches to management.