ArticleThe journal of headache and pain2026
Characterizing migraine burden and treatment response using nationwide smartphone app-based data in Korea.
Article in The journal of headache and pain, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMigraine is a major source of disability in Korea, yet many patients remain underdiagnosed or undertreated. Traditional epidemiological studies are limited by recall bias and incomplete patient-reported outcomes. App-based headache diaries offer real-time, repeated measures of symptoms and treatment, enabling large-scale assessment to better understand migraine burden and treatment response. This study aimed to evaluate the large-scale implementation of a nationally distributed smartphone "Headache Diary" mobile application and describe migraine burden, acute treatment response, and functional impairment in real-world practice in Korea.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective, non-interventional analysis using self-reported data from the nationwide "Headache Diary" mobile application, developed by the Korean Headache Society. We included users who submitted at least one headache report between December 2020 and January 2025. Migraine/probable migraine were identified using an algorithm based on medication use and ICHD-3 criteria, while the remaining participants were classified into a non-migraine group (including tension-type headache or unclassifiable headache disorders). Acute-treatment failure was defined as pain relief reported after 2 hours or no effect. We also analyzed clinical characteristics, acute treatment patterns, and functional impairment associated with headache attacks.
resultsOf 23,713 users, 17,913 (75.5%) had migraine or probable migraine. Migraine patients experienced more severe headache intensity (55.5% vs. 13.7%), higher rates of premonitory symptoms (67.7% vs. 29.5%), more frequent identification of triggers (89.9% vs. 61.2%), and greater use of acute medications (73.1% vs. 23.8%) compared to non-migraine users. Among 211,302 headache attacks analyzed, 155,894 attacks were migraine, and 96,742 attacks were available for acute treatment effect assessment. Of the 86,301 triptan-treated attacks, 40.3% resulted in acute treatment failure. Adolescents (10-19 years) showed the highest failure rate (62.1%). Notably, attacks with premonitory symptoms (odds ratio [OR] 0.91, 95% CI 0.89-0.94), aura (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.75-0.83), or potential triggers (OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.91-0.96) had lower odds of treatment failure. Functional impairment was reported in 36.6% of attacks, most as decreased work or study efficiency (21.0%) and reduced household activity efficiency (17.2%).
conclusionsNationwide, app-based data revealed that migraine patients in Korea frequently experience severe attacks, premonitory symptoms, and triggers, with substantial rates of acute treatment failure and functional impairment. These findings highlight the need for earlier recognition and timely intervention and suggest that real-time digital platforms can provide valuable insights for patient-centered migraine management. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: Not applicable.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.