Income dissatisfaction and migraine headache. Evidence from a nationwide population-based survey

Abstract

ABSTRACTObjective We investigate whether and to what extent income dissatisfaction (ID) is an important determinant of migraine. Indeed, ID may play a more relevant role in migraines than realized income, and it may affect both low and high-income people.Design We exploit the Italian Statistical Institute (ISTAT) survey covering about 80,000 individuals for this study. On the methodological ground, an instrumental variable probit model has been implemented.Main Outcome Measures To measure income dissatisfaction we exploit a self-reported status ranging from 1 to 4, while the migraine variable captures whether the individual suffers from migraine.Results The results show that the higher the ID the greater the probability of having a migraine. This relationship is robust to the level of realized income, socioeconomic characteristics of the individual, and the existence of other illnesses.Conclusions The high relevance of ID among low-income as well as high-income people opens up a new perspective on the determinants of migraines and provides an explanation of the contrasting evidence in the literature about the income-migraine nexus.

Keywords

• Income dissatisfaction
• Migraine
• Comorbidities
• Psychological illnesses and migraine
• Italy
• I1