ArticleHeadache2025
Healthcare resource use and costs associated with the misdiagnosis of migraine.
Article in Headache, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Electrophysiological Properties and Mechanical Sensitivity of Trigeminal Ganglionic Neurons That Innervate the Maxillary Sinus in Mice.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Understanding Delays and Diagnostic Shifts in Primary Headaches: Evidence from Japanese Health Insurance Claims.Cureus · 2025Article
- A Correlation Between Migraine and Endometriosis and Its Clinical Implications-A Systematic Literature Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Facial/sinus pain or pressure and migraine: exploratory findings from the HEADS registry.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo compare healthcare resource utilization and healthcare costs in patients with migraine with or without a history of misdiagnosis.
backgroundDespite the high prevalence of migraine, migraine is commonly misdiagnosed. The healthcare resource use and cost burden of a misdiagnosis is unknown.
methodsThis retrospective cohort study identified adults with an incident migraine diagnosis from the Merative™ Marketscan® Commercial and Medicare Supplemental Databases between June 2018 and 2019. Patients with a diagnosis of commonly considered misdiagnoses (headache, sinusitis, or cervical pain) before their migraine diagnosis were classified as the "misdiagnosed cohort." Patients in the misdiagnosed cohort were potentially misdiagnosed, then eventually received a correct diagnosis. Patients without a history of commonly considered misdiagnoses prior to their migraine diagnosis were classified as the "correctly diagnosed cohort." Healthcare resource utilization and healthcare costs were assessed in the period before migraine diagnosis and compared between the cohorts. Outcomes were reported as per patient per month and compared with incidence rate ratios.
resultsA total of 29,147 patients comprised the correctly diagnosed cohort and 3841 patients comprised the misdiagnosed cohort and met the inclusion criteria. Patients in the misdiagnosed cohort had statistically significantly higher rates of inpatient admissions (0.02 vs. 0.01, incidence rate ratio [IRR] 1.61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.47-1.74), emergency department visits (0.10 vs. 0.05; IRR 1.89, 95% CI 1.79-1.99), neurologist visits (0.12 vs. 0.02; IRR 5.95, 95% CI 5.40-6.57), non-neurologist outpatient visits (2.64 vs. 1.58; IRR 1.67, 95% CI 1.62-1.72) and prescription fills (2.82 vs. 1.84; IRR 1.53, 95% CI 1.48-1.58) compared to correctly diagnosed patients. Misdiagnosed patients had statistically significantly higher rates of healthcare cost accrual for inpatient admissions ($1362 vs. $518; IRR 2.62, 95% CI 2.50-2.75), emergency department visits ($222 vs. $98; IRR 2.27, 95% CI 2.18-2.36), neurologist visits ($42 vs. $9; IRR 4.39, 95% CI 4.00-4.79), non-neurologist outpatient visits ($1327 vs. $641; IRR 2.07, 95% CI 1.91-2.24), and prescription fills ($305 vs. $215; IRR 1.41, 95% CI 1.18-1.70) compared to correctly diagnosed patients.
conclusionPatients with migraine who have a history of misdiagnoses have higher rates of healthcare resource utilization and cost accrual versus those without such history.
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