Table 1 The main domains that should be covered in headache burden studies
From: Impact of headache in Europe: a review for the Eurolight project
Economic burden | |
 Direct cost | Medication, consultation, investigations, hospitalisations |
 Indirect costs | Workdays lost |
Decreased effectiveness when working with headache | |
Lost career and education opportunities | |
Non-economic burden | |
 Disability | MIDAS or HALT |
Time with disability: Headache frequency x duration x intensity/disability | |
 Impact outside attacks | Residual disability and fear of next attack |
 Quality of Life | SF 36, SF 12, WHOQual etc |
 Family impact | Impact on the life of partner and/or children |
Impact on marriage and love life | |
Impact on family planning and/or contraception | |
 Psychiatric complaints | Various scales to measure anxiety and/or depression as consequent or comorbid disorders (e.g. HADS) |