Rees, Daniel I., and Joseph J. Sabia. 2011. “The Effect of Migraine Headache on Educational Attainment.” Journal of Human Resources 46(2): 317–332.
Despite the fact that migraine headaches are common and debilitating, little is known about their effect on educational attainment. Using data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we estimate the relationship between migraine headache and three outcomes: high school grade point average, the probability of graduating high school, and the probability of attending college. Our results provide evidence that migraine headache negatively impacts human capital accumulation. The relationship between migraine headache and educational attainment is explained, in part, through its effect on school absences and the respondent’s self-reported ability to pay attention in class and complete homework.
“Only if you’ve had a severe migraine can you appreciate how devastating this is to the life and composure of the victim.”
Dr. Seymour Diamond, Executive Chairman of the National Headache Foundation.
Daniel Rees is a professor of economics at the University of Colorado Denver. Joseph Sabia is an assistant professor of economics at the United States Military Academy. They thank Hani Mansour, seminar participants at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, George Washington University, and the University of Oregon, and an anonymous referee for helpful comments. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not reflect the position of the United States Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or the Department of Defense. The data used are from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, conducted by J. Richard Udry of the Carolina Population Center, CB# 8120, University Square, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27516–3997. Funding for the data collection was provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) under Grant No. P01-HD31921. The data used to conduct this study may be obtained from this source.