Migraine in Aotearoa NZ survey participants
Description of the respondents to the 2022 Migraine in Aotearoa New Zealand Survey
Key points
The 2022 MiANZ survey is the first online survey to collect information about the impact of migraine on people in Aotearoa New Zealand, including disability from migraine, treatments used, impact on work, access and experience of health services and experiences of stigma.
Responses were collected from 530 individuals with identified migraine disease.
The survey was not nationally representative of all people with migraine in Aotearoa New Zealand, and under-represented males, Māori and Pacific people.
Migraine identification and experience
The Migraine in Aotearoa New Zealand Survey (MiANZS) was an online survey run by Migraine Foundation Aotearoa New Zealand in August-October 2022. We had 530 people respond to the survey (see Methodology report for more information about the survey).
All 530 respondents had either a positive score on the ID-Migraine testᵀᴹ and/or a migraine diagnosis from a health professional. The ID-Migraine testᵀᴹ is a set of three questions which helps to identify people with migraine disease. A positive test is when people answer ‘Yes’ to at least two of the three questions.¹ These questions are:
Has a headache limited your activities for a day or more in the last three months? Activities refers to work, study, play or other things you needed to do in the day.
Are you nauseated or sick to your stomach when you have a headache?
Does light bother you when you have a headache?
Of the 530 respondents, 95% reported that headache had limited activities in the last three months, 80% experienced nausea with their headache and 91% reported photophobia (sensitivity to light with a headache).
Demographics
Migraine disease disproportionately affects people in peak working-age years. Nearly three quarters (74%) of MiANZS respondents were aged 25–54 years. Migraine also affects women 2–3 times more frequently than men. Only 9% of survey respondents were male, while 90% were female and the remainder identified as another gender.
Most of the survey respondents were NZ European/Other ethnicity (86%), while 8% were Māori and only 1% were Pacific. From the 2013/14 New Zealand Health Survey, Māori and Pacific people have a similar prevalence of doctor-diagnosed migraine as the whole population (around 16%).
Respondents to the survey came from all parts of Aotearoa New Zealand; over a third (37%) from Auckland and one in five (21%) from Wellington.
Socioeconomic characteristics
Over three quarters (78%) of survey respondents were in either full or part-time employment but the sample also included those who were retired, students, stay at home carers and not employed.
Nearly half of respondents (46%) reported an annual household income of $100,000 or more. For the year ending June 2022, the average annual household income (before tax, from all sources) was $117,126.²
References
Cousins, G., Hijazze, S., van de Laar, F. A. & Fahey, T. Diagnostic Accuracy of the ID Migraine: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain 51, 1140–1148 (2011).
Household income and housing-cost statistics: Year ended June 2022, Stats NZ