Lay summary
Migraine is a prevalent and disabling disease, affecting an estimated 753,000 people in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), most of whom are of working age. There has been no analysis of the cost of migraine in NZ. International research finds that migraine is a significant cost to the health system from visits to health providers, medications and diagnostic tests, but causes even higher costs from lost productivity, due to negative impacts on people’s ability to work. Quantifying the cost of migraine in NZ can prompt changes to how migraine is effectively treated and managed, through ensuring equitable access to best-practice treatments and healthcare for all population groups in NZ. We will set the groundwork for a migraine cost-of-illness study by reviewing the literature, identifying NZ datasets and developing a plan for how to undertake a robust and comprehensive analysis that includes both health system and societal costs.