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New study uncovers acute treatment patterns of migraine sufferers

Results indicated many patients delay treatment, use multiple medications to achieve complete migraine pain relief

Chicago, IL, April 17, 2008 – Understanding migraine patients’ treatment patterns is key to helping them better manage their migraines. According to new research, many migraine patients frequently delay treatment until pain is deemed “moderate” or “severe” and the majority use multiple medications to achieve complete migraine pain relief. Despite other research indicating that treating migraines at the first sign of pain while pain is mild reduces the need for re-dosing and may improve patient outcomes, these new findings suggest that patients may not be using the best treatment approaches.

Previously, little was known about the actual treatment patterns of migraine patients. These findings from the PROMPT (Patient Reported Outcomes of Migraine Preference and Treatment) study were presented today at the 60^th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.

“These data show that patients are using sub-optimal treatment approaches and are waiting too long to treat their migraines, which is important because we now know that the migraine process involves a complex chain of events that begin before the patient feels any migraine pain,”said Richard Lipton, MD, Professor of Neurology, Epidemiology and Social Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. “Physicians may be able to help their patients achieve better treatment outcomes by encouraging them to use migraine medications at the first sign of migraine pain.”

About the Study

This study analyzed results from a prospective survey of migraine patients who were enrolled in a health plan and had either a medical claim for headache or migraine, or a pharmacy claim for migraine-specific medications, such as triptans or ergots, during a two-year period from January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2006. The 424 patients surveyed completed both mail and telephone surveys.

The data showed that one-third of migraine patients wait for “moderate or severe pain” before treating their migraine, and one in four patients waited until they were “sure it was a migraine.” Despite data demonstrating the benefits of taking migraine-specific medications early while migraine pain is mild, only four in 10 said they took their migraine medication at the “first sign of migraine when the pain was mild.”

The majority of patients (seven in 10) reported taking multiple acute medications to treat their migraines. About two-thirds of the patients took multiple medications sequentially, while almost one-third reported taking multiple medications all at once.

• Among the patients who took multiple medications all at once, approximately one in four patients combined triptans with NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), and about four in 10 patients combined triptans with other medications.
• Of those who took multiple medications sequentially to treat a migraine attack, more than half reported using a “step-care” approach (starting with an analgesic and then taking a triptan) for the same attack, and nearly two in 10 used “rescue” medication (taking additional medications after a triptan). 
• Overall, six of 10 patients who used triptans began migraine treatment with a non-triptan medication.

 

The survey also measured patients’ reasons for treating migraines with multiple medications. More than half reported that it “takes a while to know if the headache is severe,” more than four in 10 cited inadequate health insurance coverage, and more than one in seven (15 percent) reported inadequate migraine pain relief with monotherapy.

In the past, many physicians believed that migraine was a condition of blood vessel dilation alone, but it is now believed that multiple mechanisms contribute to the onset and progression of migraine, which begin before the patient feels any headache pain. This improved understanding of the migraine process may explain the rationale for choosing migraine-specific therapies that target multiple mechanisms of migraines.

“The data also suggest that there may be a need for better patient education on the benefits of treating a migraine early during the mild pain phase,” added Dr. Lipton.

The PROMPT study was funded by GlaxoSmithKline.

About GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK)

GlaxoSmithKline – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For detailed company information, see GlaxoSmithKline’s website: www.gsk.com.

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