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Headache-Free Days and Health-related Outcomes in Migraine Patients
An increase in the number of headache-free days (HFD) was associated with better health-related outcomes in patients with migraine, a new study found. The retrospective, cross-sectional study collected responses from adults aged ≥18 years from the 2017 National Health and Wellness Survey (n=62,000). Patients with a physician’s diagnosis of migraine and who had experienced at ≥4 monthly headache days in the prior month were included (n=1,569). Researchers found:
- An increase of 1 HFD was associated with average increases of 0.171, 0.306, 0.003, and 0.008 points for mental component summary score (MCS), physical component summary score (PCS), Short-Form-6D (SF-6D) utility score, and EuroQoL-5D (EQ-5D) index score, respectively.
- An increase of 1 HFD was associated with expected average decreases in absenteeism of 3.9% and presenteeism of 2.1%.
- An increase of 1 HFD was associated with expected decreases in HCP visits and neurologist visits of 1.0% and 4.7%, respectively.
Doane MJ, et al. Associations between headache-free days and patient-reported outcomes among migraine patients: A cross-sectional analysis of survey data in Europe. [Published online ahead of print July 26, 2019]. Pain Ther. doi: 10.1007/s40122-019-0133-1.