The 1-year migraine prevalence rate (5.3 %) in the present study was somewhat lower than that previously observed in Western countries (9–25 %) [34]. However, the migraine prevalence rate in the present study was similar to those observed in previous studies in Korea and other Asian countries [3, 35]. The 1-year prevalence of migraine ranges from 4.7 % to 9.1 % in most studies of Asian countries, which is somewhat lower than that recorded in studies of European and North American countries [35]. As in most migraine epidemiological studies, migraine prevalence peaked in the 30–49 age groups and decreased in the 50–69 age groups in the present study [1, 3, 5–7]. These findings may be attributed to hormonal effects on migraine in women [36].