[Relevance of headache for population medicine. Health care, costs, working loss].

Headaches are an enormous burden both for the individual sufferer and for society. The WHO lists migraine among the 10 diseases with the highest impact on the quality of life and functionality of the sufferers. The treatment of headache patients in Germany is relatively poor compared to other European countries. Only a minority of patients receives a treatment according to published guidelines, although sufficient care can be provided on all levels of the health care system. The total costs caused by headaches in Germany are approximately 27 bio € per year with 17 bio € caused by migraine. With respect to the individual annual costs of a headache, the highest costs are caused by medication overuse headache with 3600 € followed by migraine with 1200 €.