You are here:

AHEAD study

Australian Headache Epidemiology Data Study

This research is funded by a grant from the Brain Foundation, Lundbeck, and Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation.

Study update

Thank you everyone who supported this study. Our results are now published and can be accessed here.

In summary

5% of people returned their study questionnaires
This response rate is too low to estimate the number of people living with migraine and medication overuse headache in Australia
This is an important result. It shows that researchers need to try other methods for finding
out the answer to this important question

We know from international data that migraine and medication overuse headache (MOH) are extremely prevalent diseases and leading causes of disability worldwide. However, we lack robust, Australian-specific data. We propose a mail out survey-based pilot study across urban and regional areas in Victoria and New South Wales to capture a crucial snapshot of migraine and MOH in Australia. This pilot study will inform us of the magnitude, impact, and current gaps in the treatment paradigm of these conditions. These findings will also inform the development of the first Australia-wide, comprehensive study of headache epidemiology. These data will go towards closing the largest knowledge gap in Australian headache medicine. This research is critical for informing guidelines regarding diagnosis, directing future healthcare priorities, incentivising investment in new therapies, improving equitable access to existing and new treatments, and shaping healthcare pathways that will bring impactful change to individuals’ quality of life, their families, and our communities. This study is endorsed by the Australian and New Zealand Headache Society.

Follow us on Twitter

AHEAD study overview

Meet the team

In collaboration, Monash University, Alfred Health, University of NSW, and Prince of Wales Hospital are undertaking research to investigate:

How common is migraine in Australia?
How does it affect our lives, work, and families?
How can we make this better?

What’s involved?

We are mailing 20,000 randomly selected households across Victoria and New South Wales and inviting people to complete a survey. The survey asks whether people experience migraine, and if so, how it affects their lives, what sort of treatment they have tried, and any barriers they have come up against to accessing healthcare.

The survey is anonymous. Participants will NOT be asked to provide their name, date of birth, address, or any other information that can identify them.

Find out more

Monash University researcher Ms Kathryn Kallady has gifted the creation of a study logo. Ms Kallady is an educational & developmental psychologist, and a talented illustrator and graphic designer with a focus on supporting neurosciences communication. Further details regarding her illustrative work can be found at: www.psykallady.com and @psych.babble.bobble on instagram.

Frequently asked questions

We are working out the most efficient way to conduct a future nationwide migraine ‘census’. This will help answer these important questions:
- How common is migraine in Australia?
- How does it affect people’s lives?
- What are the barriers to accessing treatment?
These essential data are needed for healthcare planning to provide quality care to Australians living with migraine. It will also provide a foundation for future research.
Study questionnaires will be mailed out to 20,000 randomly selected households in Victoria and New South Wales. Questionnaires take 5-15 minutes to complete. Participants may complete and return the paper-based questionnaire in the reply-paid envelope, or complete the questionnaire via the secure, online platform.
Participation is completely voluntary. People do not have to take part if they do not want to. We appreciate all responses, regardless of whether or not respondents get headaches or migraine.
Thank you for your interest. We have to limit participation to households randomly selected in the mail out. This is the most accurate method to work out migraine prevalence. Additional participant data may skew results, and invalidate the findings. Once we have completed the nationwide migraine ‘census’, researchers will consider new studies to capture additional data about people’s lived experience with migraine.
This pilot study is limited to these states while researchers find the most efficient way to conduct a nationwide migraine ‘census’. The future study will involve all Australian states and territories.