Objective Compare impact of chronic migraine (CM) to episodic migraine (EM) on headache-related disability, HRQoL, and healthcare resource utilisation patterns in the UK.

Methods Cross-sectional data were collected via web-based survey. Respondents were classified as having CM>15 headache days/month or EM<14 headache days/month. Demographic characteristics and healthcare visits within 3 months were assessed. Migraine Disability Assessment Questionnaire and Migraine-specific Quality of Life Questionnaire v2.1 assessed headache-related disability and HRQoL, respectively. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) models predicted HRQoL/disability and logistic regression models examined healthcare resource utilisation by migraine group, adjusting for covariates.

Results Study sample comprises 1070 participants meeting criteria for migraine and providing data on headache frequency: 5% CM (n=57); 95% EM (n=1013). Demographic features were similar in this predominantly female (CM=83%; EM=85%) midlife (mean age 44) sample. CM group reported more severe headache pain (98% vs 82%) than EM, greater headache-related disability, and lower HRQoL. CM sufferers were 3 times (OR 3.1; 95% CI 1.8 to 5.2) as likely to have visited a GP for headache after adjusting for covariates.

Conclusions CM was associated with greater headache-related-disability, lower HRQoL, and greater healthcare resource utilisation compared to EM supporting the substantial impact of CM on UK sufferers.