Years Lived with Disability (YLD) is a public health metric that estimates the number of years individuals live with a disease or health condition, adjusted for the severity of the disability. According to the 2021 Global Burden of Disease Study, headaches account for 5.2% of global YLDs, ranking just behind low back pain and depression. This burden is particularly significant among working-age adults, as headaches are a major contributor to both absenteeism (missing work) and presenteeism (working while impaired).
In an effort to reduce the impact of headaches in the workforce, a May 2025 study examined data from 63,071 employees…
