NEW ORLEANS—Most patients with migraine either have never tried prophylactic medications or have tried several such drugs, suggesting that current therapies are not meeting patients’ needs, researchers reported at the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.
Compared with patients with episodic migraine, those with chronic migraine are more severely disabled and have more recent visits to headache- related health care providers, emergency rooms, and hospitals. Patients with chronic migraine thus have a greater need for migraine prophylaxis than patients with episodic migraine, but they are less satisfied with their treatments and experience less improvement, according to Joanna C. Sanderson, PharmD, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy in Seattle.
Examining Patients’ Use of and Attitude Toward Prophylactic Drugs Prophylaxis therapies can lessen the frequency and severity of migraines, but a recent study concluded that these drugs are underused. Dr. Sanderson analyzed responses to the second International Burden of Migraine Study, a web-based survey, to assess the use patterns of and attitude toward migraine prophylaxis therapy among patients with chronic and episodic migraine. Responses came from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
Eligible patients were 18 or older, reported one or more headaches during the past three months, and had symptoms that met the diagnostic criteria for migraine. Respondents were characterized as having episodic or chronic migraine, based on their reported headache frequencies. Participants described their current and past use of antidepressants, antiepileptics, beta-blockers, and calcium-channel blockers for migraine prophylaxis. Each respondent also rated his or her satisfaction with the medication, his or her level of improvement, and the degree to which side effects were bothersome.
A total of 1,165 respondents completed the questionnaire. Patients’ mean age was approximately 43, and approximately 75% were female. A plurality of patients (nearly 37%) was from the United States.
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