Abstract
BACKGROUND: To analyze the global burden of headache disorders in adolescents and young adults (AYAs). METHODS: Data of headache disorders in the 15–39 age groups were extracted from GBD 2019. The age-standardized rates (ASRs) of incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) rate were used to describe the burden. Estimated Annual Percentage Changes (EAPCs) were used to describe the trend from 1990 to 2019. RESULTS: In 2019, the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), age-standardized prevalence rate (ASPR), and age-standardized YLDs rate (ASYR) in AYAs were 42,473.18 (95% CI: 34,836.35, 50,858.30) per 100,000, 12,566.18 (95% CI: 8542.10, 16,915.68) per 100,000 and 790.32 (95% CI: 129.56, 1786.52) per 100,000, respectively. From 1990 to 2019, the ASRs showed increasing trends, with EAPCs of 0.04 (95% CI: 0.03, 0.06), 0.05 (95% CI: 0.03, 0.07), and 0.08 (95% CI: 0.07, 0.10). Migraine accounted for 91.54% of headache-related YLDs. The burdens in females were higher than those in males, especially for ASYR. This burden was greatest in the high sociodemographic index (SDI) super region. In the temporal trend of ASIR, 127 (62.25%) countries showed upward trends, mainly distributed in East Asia, Central Asia, West Africa, and Western Latin America. CONCLUSIONS: The burden of headache disorders in the global population aged 15–39 is severe, especially among females and in countries with high SDI. Furthermore, this burden has been steadily increasing over the past three decades. Those findings assist in implementing targeted intervention measures. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s10194-023-01703-0.