TBD Meeting (3518-19)

PHILADELPHIA – People with moderately high levels of riboflavin consumption from food – two to three times the recommended dietary allowance – had a significantly lower prevalence of a recent severe or migraine headache in a study of more than 3,600 younger U.S. adults.

Adults 20-50 years old who consumed 2.07-2.87 mg riboflavin (vitamin B₂) in food a day based on a 24-hour recall questionnaire had an adjusted, statistically significant 27% reduced prevalence of a recent severe or migraine headache, compared with people in the lowest quartile of dietary riboflavin intake, 1.45 mg/day or less, Margaret Slavin, Ph.D., said at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. Foods particularly high in riboflavin include eggs, milk, and meat.

Dietary riboflavin intakes greater than 2.87 mg/day were not linked to a difference in the prevalence of a recent history of severe or migraine headache, compared with lowest-quartile consumption. Additionally, riboflavin intake from supplements alone at any level of consumption also showed no statistically significant link with the prevalence of a recent, severe headache, said Dr. Slavin, a nutrition and food studies researcher at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

The “vast majority” of people in the study had a riboflavin intake that at least matched the U.S. recommended dietary allowance (RDA),1.3 mg/ day for men and 1.1 mg/day for women), “but it’s possible that people with migraine headaches need more riboflavin,” Dr. Slavin suggested. Professional societies in the United States (Neurology. 2012 Apr;78[17]: 1346-53) and Canada (Can J Neurol Sci. 2012 Mar;39[Suppl 2]S8-S28) have gone on record with some level of recommendation for a daily riboflavin supplement of 400 mg to prevent migraine headaches, she said.

A U.S. guideline that included riboflavin has been “retired” because of an issue unrelated to riboflavin, according to the Neurology website.

The new study ran data collected in the biennial National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), specifically the surveys from 2001-2002 and 2003-2004. The combined data included 5,528 adults 20-50 years old, and 3,634 with complete data and without an excluding condition such as pregnancy, diabetes, or menopause. Among the study participants 884 reported having “severe headaches or migraines,” during the 3 months preceding the survey and the remaining 2,750 people served as controls. People who reported recent severe headache or migraine overall had a significantly lower average amount of vitamin B2 in their diet than did the controls, but the two subgroups showed no significant differences in their levels of riboflavin intake from supplements, or from both diet and supplements combined.

The researchers calculated odds ratios for people having severe headaches or migraines relative to their riboflavin-intake quartile, and they adjusted the findings for age, sex, body mass index, and alcohol intake.

Further analysis that looked at total riboflavin intake, from both food and supplements, showed that the two middle quartiles for this metric, with a combined riboflavin intake of 1.6-3.8 mg/day, had a significantly reduced prevalence of recent severe or migraine headaches, compared with the lowest-intake quartile, with an odds ratio that roughly matched the dietary riboflavin analysis.

Dr. Slavin has received research funding from the Egg Nutrition Center, the Maryland Soybean Board, the McCormick Science Institute, and PepsiCo.

[email protected]

SOURCE: Slavin M. Headache. 2019 June;59[S1]:1-208, Abstract LBOR04.

PHILADELPHIA – People with moderately high levels of riboflavin consumption from food – two to three times the recommended dietary allowance – had a significantly lower prevalence of a recent severe or migraine headache in a study of more than 3,600 younger U.S. adults.

Adults 20-50 years old who consumed 2.07-2.87 mg riboflavin (vitamin B₂) in food a day based on a 24-hour recall questionnaire had an adjusted, statistically significant 27% reduced prevalence of a recent severe or migraine headache, compared with people in the lowest quartile of dietary riboflavin intake, 1.45 mg/day or less, Margaret Slavin, Ph.D., said at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. Foods particularly high in riboflavin include eggs, milk, and meat.

Dietary riboflavin intakes greater than 2.87 mg/day were not linked to a difference in the prevalence of a recent history of severe or migraine headache, compared with lowest-quartile consumption. Additionally, riboflavin intake from supplements alone at any level of consumption also showed no statistically significant link with the prevalence of a recent, severe headache, said Dr. Slavin, a nutrition and food studies researcher at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

The “vast majority” of people in the study had a riboflavin intake that at least matched the U.S. recommended dietary allowance (RDA),1.3 mg/ day for men and 1.1 mg/day for women), “but it’s possible that people with migraine headaches need more riboflavin,” Dr. Slavin suggested. Professional societies in the United States (Neurology. 2012 Apr;78[17]: 1346-53) and Canada (Can J Neurol Sci. 2012 Mar;39[Suppl 2]S8-S28) have gone on record with some level of recommendation for a daily riboflavin supplement of 400 mg to prevent migraine headaches, she said.

A U.S. guideline that included riboflavin has been “retired” because of an issue unrelated to riboflavin, according to the Neurology website.

The new study ran data collected in the biennial National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), specifically the surveys from 2001-2002 and 2003-2004. The combined data included 5,528 adults 20-50 years old, and 3,634 with complete data and without an excluding condition such as pregnancy, diabetes, or menopause. Among the study participants 884 reported having “severe headaches or migraines,” during the 3 months preceding the survey and the remaining 2,750 people served as controls. People who reported recent severe headache or migraine overall had a significantly lower average amount of vitamin B2 in their diet than did the controls, but the two subgroups showed no significant differences in their levels of riboflavin intake from supplements, or from both diet and supplements combined.

The researchers calculated odds ratios for people having severe headaches or migraines relative to their riboflavin-intake quartile, and they adjusted the findings for age, sex, body mass index, and alcohol intake.

Further analysis that looked at total riboflavin intake, from both food and supplements, showed that the two middle quartiles for this metric, with a combined riboflavin intake of 1.6-3.8 mg/day, had a significantly reduced prevalence of recent severe or migraine headaches, compared with the lowest-intake quartile, with an odds ratio that roughly matched the dietary riboflavin analysis.

Dr. Slavin has received research funding from the Egg Nutrition Center, the Maryland Soybean Board, the McCormick Science Institute, and PepsiCo.

[email protected]

SOURCE: Slavin M. Headache. 2019 June;59[S1]:1-208, Abstract LBOR04.

PHILADELPHIA – People with moderately high levels of riboflavin consumption from food – two to three times the recommended dietary allowance – had a significantly lower prevalence of a recent severe or migraine headache in a study of more than 3,600 younger U.S. adults.

Adults 20-50 years old who consumed 2.07-2.87 mg riboflavin (vitamin B₂) in food a day based on a 24-hour recall questionnaire had an adjusted, statistically significant 27% reduced prevalence of a recent severe or migraine headache, compared with people in the lowest quartile of dietary riboflavin intake, 1.45 mg/day or less, Margaret Slavin, Ph.D., said at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. Foods particularly high in riboflavin include eggs, milk, and meat.

Dietary riboflavin intakes greater than 2.87 mg/day were not linked to a difference in the prevalence of a recent history of severe or migraine headache, compared with lowest-quartile consumption. Additionally, riboflavin intake from supplements alone at any level of consumption also showed no statistically significant link with the prevalence of a recent, severe headache, said Dr. Slavin, a nutrition and food studies researcher at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

The “vast majority” of people in the study had a riboflavin intake that at least matched the U.S. recommended dietary allowance (RDA),1.3 mg/ day for men and 1.1 mg/day for women), “but it’s possible that people with migraine headaches need more riboflavin,” Dr. Slavin suggested. Professional societies in the United States (Neurology. 2012 Apr;78[17]: 1346-53) and Canada (Can J Neurol Sci. 2012 Mar;39[Suppl 2]S8-S28) have gone on record with some level of recommendation for a daily riboflavin supplement of 400 mg to prevent migraine headaches, she said.

A U.S. guideline that included riboflavin has been “retired” because of an issue unrelated to riboflavin, according to the Neurology website.

The new study ran data collected in the biennial National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), specifically the surveys from 2001-2002 and 2003-2004. The combined data included 5,528 adults 20-50 years old, and 3,634 with complete data and without an excluding condition such as pregnancy, diabetes, or menopause. Among the study participants 884 reported having “severe headaches or migraines,” during the 3 months preceding the survey and the remaining 2,750 people served as controls. People who reported recent severe headache or migraine overall had a significantly lower average amount of vitamin B2 in their diet than did the controls, but the two subgroups showed no significant differences in their levels of riboflavin intake from supplements, or from both diet and supplements combined.

The researchers calculated odds ratios for people having severe headaches or migraines relative to their riboflavin-intake quartile, and they adjusted the findings for age, sex, body mass index, and alcohol intake.

Further analysis that looked at total riboflavin intake, from both food and supplements, showed that the two middle quartiles for this metric, with a combined riboflavin intake of 1.6-3.8 mg/day, had a significantly reduced prevalence of recent severe or migraine headaches, compared with the lowest-intake quartile, with an odds ratio that roughly matched the dietary riboflavin analysis.

Dr. Slavin has received research funding from the Egg Nutrition Center, the Maryland Soybean Board, the McCormick Science Institute, and PepsiCo.

[email protected]

SOURCE: Slavin M. Headache. 2019 June;59[S1]:1-208, Abstract LBOR04.

PHILADELPHIA – Nearly one-fifth of U.S. residents who self-reported symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of migraine also self-reported drug use for their migraine attacks that constituted medication overuse, according to findings from an analysis of 16,789 people with migraine.

Mitchel L. Zoler/MDedge News

About 18% of the people identified with migraine in the study cohort reported a drug consumption pattern that met the prespecified definition of “medication overuse,” Todd J. Schwedt, MD, and his associates reported in a poster at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. Supplying each migraine patient with a “comprehensive treatment plan” along with “improved acute treatment options ... may help reduce the prevalence and associated burden of medication overuse,” said Dr. Schwedt, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. The analysis also showed that medication overuse (MO) significantly linked with several markers of worse clinical status.

If patients have “an effective preventive treatment that reduces headaches and migraine attacks then they will, in general, use less acute medications. Many people with migraine never even get diagnosed, and patients who qualify for preventive treatment never get it,” Dr. Schwedt noted in an interview. He described a comprehensive treatment plan as a management strategy that includes lifestyle modifications, a migraine-prevention agent, and the availability of an effective acute treatment for a patient to use when a migraine strikes along with clear instructions on how to appropriately self-administer the medication. Only a small fraction of U.S. migraine patients currently receive this complete package of care, he said.

The analysis he ran used data collected in the CaMEO (Chronic Migraine Epidemiology and Outcomes) study, which used an Internet-based survey to collect data from a representative 58,000-person sample of U.S. residents, which included 16,789 who met the applied migraine definition, with 91% having fewer than 15 headaches/month and the remaining 9% with a monthly headache average of 15 or more (Cephalagia. 2015 Jun;35[7]:563-78).

The researchers defined overuse of a single medication as use 15 times or more a month of an NSAID, aspirin, or acetaminophen, or use at least 10 times a month of a triptan, ergotamine, or opioid. They also had a prespecified definition of multidrug overuse that applied similar monthly thresholds. The patients averaged about 41 years old, three-quarters were women, and 85% were white. Patients identified with MO had a substantially higher rate of headaches per month: an average of nearly 12, compared with an average of about 4 per month among those without overuse. Almost two-thirds of the patients with MO reported having been formally diagnosed as having migraine headaches, compared with 41% of those without overuse.

Among the 13,749 patients (82%) on some headache medication, 67% were on a nonopioid analgesic, including 61% on an NSAID. MO among all people on nonopioid analgesics was 16%, and 12% among those who used NSAIDS. The most overused drug in this subgroup were combination analgesics, overused by 18% of those taking these drugs.

The drug class with the biggest MO rate was opioids, used by 12% of those on any medication and overused by 22% of those taking an opioid. Triptans were taken by 11%, with an MO rate of 11% among these users. Ergotamine was used by less than 1% of all patients, and those taking this drug tallied a 19% MO rate.

“Opioids were the class most often overused, more evidence that opioids should rarely if ever be used to treat migraine,” Dr. Schwedt said.

The analysis also showed that patients who had MO has multiple signs of worse clinical status. Patients with MO had a significantly higher rate of diagnosed depression, 54%, compared with 28% in those without MO; anxiety, 49% compared with 26%; migraine-associated disability, 73% compared with 32%; migraine-associated functional impairment (Migraine Interictal Burden Scale), 65% compared with 32%; and emergency department or urgent care use, 13% compared with 3%. All these between-group differences were statistically significant.

CaMEO was funded by Allergan. Dr. Schwedt has been a consultant to Allergan, and also to Alder, Amgen, Cipla, Dr. Reddy’s, Ipsen, Lilly, Novartis, and Teva. He has stock ownership in Aural Analytics, Nocira, and Second Opinion, and he has received research funding from Amgen.

[email protected]

SOURCE: Schwedt TJ et al. Headache. 2019 June;59[S1]:83-4, Abstract P92.

PHILADELPHIA – Nearly one-fifth of U.S. residents who self-reported symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of migraine also self-reported drug use for their migraine attacks that constituted medication overuse, according to findings from an analysis of 16,789 people with migraine.

Mitchel L. Zoler/MDedge News

About 18% of the people identified with migraine in the study cohort reported a drug consumption pattern that met the prespecified definition of “medication overuse,” Todd J. Schwedt, MD, and his associates reported in a poster at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. Supplying each migraine patient with a “comprehensive treatment plan” along with “improved acute treatment options ... may help reduce the prevalence and associated burden of medication overuse,” said Dr. Schwedt, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. The analysis also showed that medication overuse (MO) significantly linked with several markers of worse clinical status.

If patients have “an effective preventive treatment that reduces headaches and migraine attacks then they will, in general, use less acute medications. Many people with migraine never even get diagnosed, and patients who qualify for preventive treatment never get it,” Dr. Schwedt noted in an interview. He described a comprehensive treatment plan as a management strategy that includes lifestyle modifications, a migraine-prevention agent, and the availability of an effective acute treatment for a patient to use when a migraine strikes along with clear instructions on how to appropriately self-administer the medication. Only a small fraction of U.S. migraine patients currently receive this complete package of care, he said.

The analysis he ran used data collected in the CaMEO (Chronic Migraine Epidemiology and Outcomes) study, which used an Internet-based survey to collect data from a representative 58,000-person sample of U.S. residents, which included 16,789 who met the applied migraine definition, with 91% having fewer than 15 headaches/month and the remaining 9% with a monthly headache average of 15 or more (Cephalagia. 2015 Jun;35[7]:563-78).

The researchers defined overuse of a single medication as use 15 times or more a month of an NSAID, aspirin, or acetaminophen, or use at least 10 times a month of a triptan, ergotamine, or opioid. They also had a prespecified definition of multidrug overuse that applied similar monthly thresholds. The patients averaged about 41 years old, three-quarters were women, and 85% were white. Patients identified with MO had a substantially higher rate of headaches per month: an average of nearly 12, compared with an average of about 4 per month among those without overuse. Almost two-thirds of the patients with MO reported having been formally diagnosed as having migraine headaches, compared with 41% of those without overuse.

Among the 13,749 patients (82%) on some headache medication, 67% were on a nonopioid analgesic, including 61% on an NSAID. MO among all people on nonopioid analgesics was 16%, and 12% among those who used NSAIDS. The most overused drug in this subgroup were combination analgesics, overused by 18% of those taking these drugs.

The drug class with the biggest MO rate was opioids, used by 12% of those on any medication and overused by 22% of those taking an opioid. Triptans were taken by 11%, with an MO rate of 11% among these users. Ergotamine was used by less than 1% of all patients, and those taking this drug tallied a 19% MO rate.

“Opioids were the class most often overused, more evidence that opioids should rarely if ever be used to treat migraine,” Dr. Schwedt said.

The analysis also showed that patients who had MO has multiple signs of worse clinical status. Patients with MO had a significantly higher rate of diagnosed depression, 54%, compared with 28% in those without MO; anxiety, 49% compared with 26%; migraine-associated disability, 73% compared with 32%; migraine-associated functional impairment (Migraine Interictal Burden Scale), 65% compared with 32%; and emergency department or urgent care use, 13% compared with 3%. All these between-group differences were statistically significant.

CaMEO was funded by Allergan. Dr. Schwedt has been a consultant to Allergan, and also to Alder, Amgen, Cipla, Dr. Reddy’s, Ipsen, Lilly, Novartis, and Teva. He has stock ownership in Aural Analytics, Nocira, and Second Opinion, and he has received research funding from Amgen.

[email protected]

SOURCE: Schwedt TJ et al. Headache. 2019 June;59[S1]:83-4, Abstract P92.

PHILADELPHIA – Nearly one-fifth of U.S. residents who self-reported symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of migraine also self-reported drug use for their migraine attacks that constituted medication overuse, according to findings from an analysis of 16,789 people with migraine.

Mitchel L. Zoler/MDedge News

About 18% of the people identified with migraine in the study cohort reported a drug consumption pattern that met the prespecified definition of “medication overuse,” Todd J. Schwedt, MD, and his associates reported in a poster at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. Supplying each migraine patient with a “comprehensive treatment plan” along with “improved acute treatment options ... may help reduce the prevalence and associated burden of medication overuse,” said Dr. Schwedt, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. The analysis also showed that medication overuse (MO) significantly linked with several markers of worse clinical status.

If patients have “an effective preventive treatment that reduces headaches and migraine attacks then they will, in general, use less acute medications. Many people with migraine never even get diagnosed, and patients who qualify for preventive treatment never get it,” Dr. Schwedt noted in an interview. He described a comprehensive treatment plan as a management strategy that includes lifestyle modifications, a migraine-prevention agent, and the availability of an effective acute treatment for a patient to use when a migraine strikes along with clear instructions on how to appropriately self-administer the medication. Only a small fraction of U.S. migraine patients currently receive this complete package of care, he said.

The analysis he ran used data collected in the CaMEO (Chronic Migraine Epidemiology and Outcomes) study, which used an Internet-based survey to collect data from a representative 58,000-person sample of U.S. residents, which included 16,789 who met the applied migraine definition, with 91% having fewer than 15 headaches/month and the remaining 9% with a monthly headache average of 15 or more (Cephalagia. 2015 Jun;35[7]:563-78).

The researchers defined overuse of a single medication as use 15 times or more a month of an NSAID, aspirin, or acetaminophen, or use at least 10 times a month of a triptan, ergotamine, or opioid. They also had a prespecified definition of multidrug overuse that applied similar monthly thresholds. The patients averaged about 41 years old, three-quarters were women, and 85% were white. Patients identified with MO had a substantially higher rate of headaches per month: an average of nearly 12, compared with an average of about 4 per month among those without overuse. Almost two-thirds of the patients with MO reported having been formally diagnosed as having migraine headaches, compared with 41% of those without overuse.

Among the 13,749 patients (82%) on some headache medication, 67% were on a nonopioid analgesic, including 61% on an NSAID. MO among all people on nonopioid analgesics was 16%, and 12% among those who used NSAIDS. The most overused drug in this subgroup were combination analgesics, overused by 18% of those taking these drugs.

The drug class with the biggest MO rate was opioids, used by 12% of those on any medication and overused by 22% of those taking an opioid. Triptans were taken by 11%, with an MO rate of 11% among these users. Ergotamine was used by less than 1% of all patients, and those taking this drug tallied a 19% MO rate.

“Opioids were the class most often overused, more evidence that opioids should rarely if ever be used to treat migraine,” Dr. Schwedt said.

The analysis also showed that patients who had MO has multiple signs of worse clinical status. Patients with MO had a significantly higher rate of diagnosed depression, 54%, compared with 28% in those without MO; anxiety, 49% compared with 26%; migraine-associated disability, 73% compared with 32%; migraine-associated functional impairment (Migraine Interictal Burden Scale), 65% compared with 32%; and emergency department or urgent care use, 13% compared with 3%. All these between-group differences were statistically significant.

CaMEO was funded by Allergan. Dr. Schwedt has been a consultant to Allergan, and also to Alder, Amgen, Cipla, Dr. Reddy’s, Ipsen, Lilly, Novartis, and Teva. He has stock ownership in Aural Analytics, Nocira, and Second Opinion, and he has received research funding from Amgen.

[email protected]

SOURCE: Schwedt TJ et al. Headache. 2019 June;59[S1]:83-4, Abstract P92.

PHILADELPHIA – Nineteen percent of patients with migraine use opioids to treat migraine, according to a survey of more than 21,000 patients in 2018. People with 4 or more migraine headache days per month are more likely to use opioids, compared with people with fewer migraine headache days per month, researchers said. Opioid use for migraine “remains alarmingly high,” the investigators said at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

Although opioid use for the treatment of migraine typically is discouraged, studies indicate that it is common. Evidence suggests that opioids may increase the risk of progression from episodic to chronic migraine.

To evaluate opioid use in people with migraine, Sait Ashina, MD, of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and the research colleagues analyzed data from 21,143 people with migraine who participated in the OVERCOME (Observational Survey of the Epidemiology, Treatment and Care of Migraine), a Web-based study of a representative U.S. sample. OVERCOME enrolled participants in the fall of 2018.

The researchers classified self-reported opioid use for migraine as current use in the past 12 months, former use, or never. Participants had a mean age of 42 years, and 74% were female. The researchers used a multivariable logistic regression model adjusted for age and sex in their analyses.

“Strikingly, we were able to find 19% of people with migraine were reporting current use of opioids,” Dr. Ashina said.

Among 12,299 patients with 0-3 migraine headache days per month, 59% were never, 26% former, and 15% current users of opioids for migraine. Among 8,844 patients with 4 or more migraine headache days per month, 44.9% were never, 31.2% former, and 23.9% current users of opioids for migraine.

There was an increased likelihood of opioid use for migraine in people with pain comorbidities such as back pain, neck pain, and fibromyalgia and in people with anxiety and depression.

Approximately 30%-40% of those who used opioids for migraine were using strong opioids, as defined by the World Health Organization, Dr. Ashina noted. Preliminary analyses indicate that patients tended to receive opioids in a primary care setting, he said.

Eli Lilly funded the OVERCOME study. Dr. Ashina has consulted for Novartis, Amgen, Promius, Supernus, Satsuma, and Allergan. He is on the Editorial Advisory Board for Neurology Reviews.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – Nineteen percent of patients with migraine use opioids to treat migraine, according to a survey of more than 21,000 patients in 2018. People with 4 or more migraine headache days per month are more likely to use opioids, compared with people with fewer migraine headache days per month, researchers said. Opioid use for migraine “remains alarmingly high,” the investigators said at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

Although opioid use for the treatment of migraine typically is discouraged, studies indicate that it is common. Evidence suggests that opioids may increase the risk of progression from episodic to chronic migraine.

To evaluate opioid use in people with migraine, Sait Ashina, MD, of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and the research colleagues analyzed data from 21,143 people with migraine who participated in the OVERCOME (Observational Survey of the Epidemiology, Treatment and Care of Migraine), a Web-based study of a representative U.S. sample. OVERCOME enrolled participants in the fall of 2018.

The researchers classified self-reported opioid use for migraine as current use in the past 12 months, former use, or never. Participants had a mean age of 42 years, and 74% were female. The researchers used a multivariable logistic regression model adjusted for age and sex in their analyses.

“Strikingly, we were able to find 19% of people with migraine were reporting current use of opioids,” Dr. Ashina said.

Among 12,299 patients with 0-3 migraine headache days per month, 59% were never, 26% former, and 15% current users of opioids for migraine. Among 8,844 patients with 4 or more migraine headache days per month, 44.9% were never, 31.2% former, and 23.9% current users of opioids for migraine.

There was an increased likelihood of opioid use for migraine in people with pain comorbidities such as back pain, neck pain, and fibromyalgia and in people with anxiety and depression.

Approximately 30%-40% of those who used opioids for migraine were using strong opioids, as defined by the World Health Organization, Dr. Ashina noted. Preliminary analyses indicate that patients tended to receive opioids in a primary care setting, he said.

Eli Lilly funded the OVERCOME study. Dr. Ashina has consulted for Novartis, Amgen, Promius, Supernus, Satsuma, and Allergan. He is on the Editorial Advisory Board for Neurology Reviews.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – Nineteen percent of patients with migraine use opioids to treat migraine, according to a survey of more than 21,000 patients in 2018. People with 4 or more migraine headache days per month are more likely to use opioids, compared with people with fewer migraine headache days per month, researchers said. Opioid use for migraine “remains alarmingly high,” the investigators said at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

Although opioid use for the treatment of migraine typically is discouraged, studies indicate that it is common. Evidence suggests that opioids may increase the risk of progression from episodic to chronic migraine.

To evaluate opioid use in people with migraine, Sait Ashina, MD, of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and the research colleagues analyzed data from 21,143 people with migraine who participated in the OVERCOME (Observational Survey of the Epidemiology, Treatment and Care of Migraine), a Web-based study of a representative U.S. sample. OVERCOME enrolled participants in the fall of 2018.

The researchers classified self-reported opioid use for migraine as current use in the past 12 months, former use, or never. Participants had a mean age of 42 years, and 74% were female. The researchers used a multivariable logistic regression model adjusted for age and sex in their analyses.

“Strikingly, we were able to find 19% of people with migraine were reporting current use of opioids,” Dr. Ashina said.

Among 12,299 patients with 0-3 migraine headache days per month, 59% were never, 26% former, and 15% current users of opioids for migraine. Among 8,844 patients with 4 or more migraine headache days per month, 44.9% were never, 31.2% former, and 23.9% current users of opioids for migraine.

There was an increased likelihood of opioid use for migraine in people with pain comorbidities such as back pain, neck pain, and fibromyalgia and in people with anxiety and depression.

Approximately 30%-40% of those who used opioids for migraine were using strong opioids, as defined by the World Health Organization, Dr. Ashina noted. Preliminary analyses indicate that patients tended to receive opioids in a primary care setting, he said.

Eli Lilly funded the OVERCOME study. Dr. Ashina has consulted for Novartis, Amgen, Promius, Supernus, Satsuma, and Allergan. He is on the Editorial Advisory Board for Neurology Reviews.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – A majority of migraineurs with 4 or more headache days per month have seen a health care professional for headache in the preceding 12 months, according to an investigation presented at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

The largest group of these patients consults primary care physicians. The acute and preventive migraine treatment that these patients receive vary according to the type of provider that they see. Nevertheless, treatment is generally suboptimal, compared with the standards of current guidelines, said the investigators.

Bruce Jancin/MDedge News

Migraine is underdiagnosed and undertreated, said Dawn C. Buse, PhD, clinical professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and colleagues. Recent changes in health care policy and the expanded array of treatments for migraine warrant an investigation of the current state of migraine care, they added. They examined survey data to understand where patients with migraine in the United States seek care, which characteristics are associated with seeking care in the previous 12 months, and which treatments are prescribed.

Dr. Buse and colleagues analyzed data from the OVERCOME (Observational Survey of the Epidemiology, Treatment, and Care of Migraine) study. These data were obtained in 2018 using a Web-based survey of a representative U.S. sample of 21,143 patients with migraine. The investigators focused on care seeking and medication use in a subsample of 8,844 patients with 4 or more migraine headache days per month to better understand those with the greatest care needs.

The mean age of this subsample was 42.0 years. Approximately 78% of participants were female, and 74.8% were white. In the preceding 12 months, 61.1% of the patients sought care for migraine; 38.3% sought care from more than two types of provider. Provider types included primary care physicians (45.5%), neurologists (20.2%), emergency medicine clinicians (19.2%), urgent care providers (14.4%), pain specialists (12.8%), headache specialists (12.0%), and retail (nonurgent) clinics (10.4%).

Dr. Buse and colleagues found that sociodemographic factors such as age, sex, education, income, and health insurance type influenced participants’ likelihood of seeking care. Seeking care was positively associated with the number of headache days, pain severity, allodynia, aura, and prodrome. When the researchers examined migraine characteristics, they found that nausea and vomiting (68.8%) was more likely to prompt a patient to seek care, compared with phonophobia and photophobia (64.3%). Participants who sought care from a headache specialist (55.0%) or a neurologist (50.1%) were most likely to be using migraine preventive medication. More than 20% of migraineurs seeking care from primary care, urgent care, or retail clinic professionals were undiagnosed.

Primary care doctors were most likely to prescribe triptans, followed by opioids and preventive medications. Neurologists and headache specialists were most likely to prescribe preventive medications and unlikely to prescribe opioids.

Eli Lilly funds the OVERCOME study. Dr. Buse consults for Lilly on this study, but she and her coauthors who do not work in the industry did not receive any funding for any work related to writing, publishing, or presenting any abstracts, posters, platforms, or manuscripts.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – A majority of migraineurs with 4 or more headache days per month have seen a health care professional for headache in the preceding 12 months, according to an investigation presented at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

The largest group of these patients consults primary care physicians. The acute and preventive migraine treatment that these patients receive vary according to the type of provider that they see. Nevertheless, treatment is generally suboptimal, compared with the standards of current guidelines, said the investigators.

Bruce Jancin/MDedge News

Migraine is underdiagnosed and undertreated, said Dawn C. Buse, PhD, clinical professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and colleagues. Recent changes in health care policy and the expanded array of treatments for migraine warrant an investigation of the current state of migraine care, they added. They examined survey data to understand where patients with migraine in the United States seek care, which characteristics are associated with seeking care in the previous 12 months, and which treatments are prescribed.

Dr. Buse and colleagues analyzed data from the OVERCOME (Observational Survey of the Epidemiology, Treatment, and Care of Migraine) study. These data were obtained in 2018 using a Web-based survey of a representative U.S. sample of 21,143 patients with migraine. The investigators focused on care seeking and medication use in a subsample of 8,844 patients with 4 or more migraine headache days per month to better understand those with the greatest care needs.

The mean age of this subsample was 42.0 years. Approximately 78% of participants were female, and 74.8% were white. In the preceding 12 months, 61.1% of the patients sought care for migraine; 38.3% sought care from more than two types of provider. Provider types included primary care physicians (45.5%), neurologists (20.2%), emergency medicine clinicians (19.2%), urgent care providers (14.4%), pain specialists (12.8%), headache specialists (12.0%), and retail (nonurgent) clinics (10.4%).

Dr. Buse and colleagues found that sociodemographic factors such as age, sex, education, income, and health insurance type influenced participants’ likelihood of seeking care. Seeking care was positively associated with the number of headache days, pain severity, allodynia, aura, and prodrome. When the researchers examined migraine characteristics, they found that nausea and vomiting (68.8%) was more likely to prompt a patient to seek care, compared with phonophobia and photophobia (64.3%). Participants who sought care from a headache specialist (55.0%) or a neurologist (50.1%) were most likely to be using migraine preventive medication. More than 20% of migraineurs seeking care from primary care, urgent care, or retail clinic professionals were undiagnosed.

Primary care doctors were most likely to prescribe triptans, followed by opioids and preventive medications. Neurologists and headache specialists were most likely to prescribe preventive medications and unlikely to prescribe opioids.

Eli Lilly funds the OVERCOME study. Dr. Buse consults for Lilly on this study, but she and her coauthors who do not work in the industry did not receive any funding for any work related to writing, publishing, or presenting any abstracts, posters, platforms, or manuscripts.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – A majority of migraineurs with 4 or more headache days per month have seen a health care professional for headache in the preceding 12 months, according to an investigation presented at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

The largest group of these patients consults primary care physicians. The acute and preventive migraine treatment that these patients receive vary according to the type of provider that they see. Nevertheless, treatment is generally suboptimal, compared with the standards of current guidelines, said the investigators.

Bruce Jancin/MDedge News

Migraine is underdiagnosed and undertreated, said Dawn C. Buse, PhD, clinical professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and colleagues. Recent changes in health care policy and the expanded array of treatments for migraine warrant an investigation of the current state of migraine care, they added. They examined survey data to understand where patients with migraine in the United States seek care, which characteristics are associated with seeking care in the previous 12 months, and which treatments are prescribed.

Dr. Buse and colleagues analyzed data from the OVERCOME (Observational Survey of the Epidemiology, Treatment, and Care of Migraine) study. These data were obtained in 2018 using a Web-based survey of a representative U.S. sample of 21,143 patients with migraine. The investigators focused on care seeking and medication use in a subsample of 8,844 patients with 4 or more migraine headache days per month to better understand those with the greatest care needs.

The mean age of this subsample was 42.0 years. Approximately 78% of participants were female, and 74.8% were white. In the preceding 12 months, 61.1% of the patients sought care for migraine; 38.3% sought care from more than two types of provider. Provider types included primary care physicians (45.5%), neurologists (20.2%), emergency medicine clinicians (19.2%), urgent care providers (14.4%), pain specialists (12.8%), headache specialists (12.0%), and retail (nonurgent) clinics (10.4%).

Dr. Buse and colleagues found that sociodemographic factors such as age, sex, education, income, and health insurance type influenced participants’ likelihood of seeking care. Seeking care was positively associated with the number of headache days, pain severity, allodynia, aura, and prodrome. When the researchers examined migraine characteristics, they found that nausea and vomiting (68.8%) was more likely to prompt a patient to seek care, compared with phonophobia and photophobia (64.3%). Participants who sought care from a headache specialist (55.0%) or a neurologist (50.1%) were most likely to be using migraine preventive medication. More than 20% of migraineurs seeking care from primary care, urgent care, or retail clinic professionals were undiagnosed.

Primary care doctors were most likely to prescribe triptans, followed by opioids and preventive medications. Neurologists and headache specialists were most likely to prescribe preventive medications and unlikely to prescribe opioids.

Eli Lilly funds the OVERCOME study. Dr. Buse consults for Lilly on this study, but she and her coauthors who do not work in the industry did not receive any funding for any work related to writing, publishing, or presenting any abstracts, posters, platforms, or manuscripts.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – The level of exposure to white light is associated with acute risk of headache onset in patients with episodic migraine, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. The data raise the question of whether modifying light exposure could reduce headache frequency in this population, said Suzanne M. Bertisch, MD, MPH, a physician and clinical investigator in the division of sleep and circadian disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

About 40% of patients with migraine identify light as a trigger. Most studies that have examined the association between light and migraine onset have been retrospective and have relied on subjective measures of light exposure.

From March 2016 to August 2017, Dr. Bertisch and colleagues enrolled 101 adults with episodic migraine into a prospective cohort study. For 79 of these participants, light exposure was measured continuously for 6 weeks by actigraph. In the morning and evening, participants recorded data such as headache onset, duration, and intensity in electronic headache diaries. They also recorded data about covariates such as caffeine intake, alcohol intake, sleep, and stress.

Dr. Bertisch and colleagues divided the day into four 6-hour periods and calculated mean light exposure within each period. After researchers adjusted for covariates, they found that higher mean photopic illuminance was associated with a 12% higher risk of headache during the same period. Mean photopic illuminance was not associated with headache onset in the next period, however.

Dr. Bertisch had no disclosures relevant to this study.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – The level of exposure to white light is associated with acute risk of headache onset in patients with episodic migraine, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. The data raise the question of whether modifying light exposure could reduce headache frequency in this population, said Suzanne M. Bertisch, MD, MPH, a physician and clinical investigator in the division of sleep and circadian disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

About 40% of patients with migraine identify light as a trigger. Most studies that have examined the association between light and migraine onset have been retrospective and have relied on subjective measures of light exposure.

From March 2016 to August 2017, Dr. Bertisch and colleagues enrolled 101 adults with episodic migraine into a prospective cohort study. For 79 of these participants, light exposure was measured continuously for 6 weeks by actigraph. In the morning and evening, participants recorded data such as headache onset, duration, and intensity in electronic headache diaries. They also recorded data about covariates such as caffeine intake, alcohol intake, sleep, and stress.

Dr. Bertisch and colleagues divided the day into four 6-hour periods and calculated mean light exposure within each period. After researchers adjusted for covariates, they found that higher mean photopic illuminance was associated with a 12% higher risk of headache during the same period. Mean photopic illuminance was not associated with headache onset in the next period, however.

Dr. Bertisch had no disclosures relevant to this study.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – The level of exposure to white light is associated with acute risk of headache onset in patients with episodic migraine, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. The data raise the question of whether modifying light exposure could reduce headache frequency in this population, said Suzanne M. Bertisch, MD, MPH, a physician and clinical investigator in the division of sleep and circadian disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

About 40% of patients with migraine identify light as a trigger. Most studies that have examined the association between light and migraine onset have been retrospective and have relied on subjective measures of light exposure.

From March 2016 to August 2017, Dr. Bertisch and colleagues enrolled 101 adults with episodic migraine into a prospective cohort study. For 79 of these participants, light exposure was measured continuously for 6 weeks by actigraph. In the morning and evening, participants recorded data such as headache onset, duration, and intensity in electronic headache diaries. They also recorded data about covariates such as caffeine intake, alcohol intake, sleep, and stress.

Dr. Bertisch and colleagues divided the day into four 6-hour periods and calculated mean light exposure within each period. After researchers adjusted for covariates, they found that higher mean photopic illuminance was associated with a 12% higher risk of headache during the same period. Mean photopic illuminance was not associated with headache onset in the next period, however.

Dr. Bertisch had no disclosures relevant to this study.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – A surprisingly large number of patients with migraine who first seek care for migraine in a primary care setting receive an initial migraine diagnosis from a neurologist, said Alice R. Pressman, PhD at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

Dr. Pressman, executive director of research, development, and dissemination for Sutter Health, and her research colleagues analyzed data from primary care patients who sought care for migraine in the Sutter Health healthcare network in Northern California. They found that women were 10% more likely than men to consult a neurologist and that Asian patients had a longer time to a first neurology encounter for migraine, compared with Caucasian patients.

“Those who sought care from neurology had more severe migraine symptomology, disability, and comorbidities,” the researchers reported. Furthermore, patients with migraine seen by neurologists were more likely to receive prescriptions for acute and preventive migraine medications, compared with patients only seen by primary care physicians.

The study, known as the Migraine Signature Study, used electronic health records (EHR) and patient-reported questionnaire data to examine the clinical experiences and care of patients with migraine.

The primary care population consisted of 1.4 million adults with at least one office visit to primary care in 2013-2017. Using the validated Migraine Probability Algorithm, the researchers identified approximately 94,000 patients who sought care for migraine.

The investigators also invited 38,536 patients to complete an online survey about migraine criteria, symptomology, health resource utilization, and patient-reported outcomes such as disability, acute treatment optimization, cutaneous allodynia, depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Of the patients who sought care for migraine, 72,624 patients did not receive migraine care from neurology, and 21,525 did.

Patients with migraine care from a neurologist were more likely to have at least one acute migraine medication order (89.4% vs. 80.6%), at least one preventive migraine medication order (78.6% vs. 49.1%), and any migraine medication order (95.3% vs. 85.9%). In addition, those with at least one medication order in the primary care setting had fewer orders per person per year, compared with those with at least one medication order in the neurology setting (1.1 vs. 1.6).

About one-third of the patients who sought care for migraine had no migraine encounters in the first 12 months of the study. Of the more than 33,000 patients with first migraine consults, approximately two-thirds did not receive a neurology consultation during the study and received their migraine diagnosis in the primary care setting.

Of the 31% of patients with first migraine consults in primary care who later had a neurology consult, two-thirds received a migraine diagnosis from neurology. “The high rate of initial migraine diagnosis within neurology was surprising among this sample with primary care encounters first,” the researchers said.

The investigators also examined patient-reported outcomes from 391 respondents who received migraine care from neurology and 399 respondents who received migraine care from primary care. “Patients who consulted a neurologist were likely to report moderate-to-severe disability, poor acute treatment optimization, and major depression,” they said. “Allodynia, anxiety, and PTSD did not differ by type of provider.”

Confounding may have influenced the results, and the researchers plan to assess factors such as headache frequency and severity using patient-reported survey data in future analyses.

The Migraine Signature Study was supported by Amgen, Inc.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – A surprisingly large number of patients with migraine who first seek care for migraine in a primary care setting receive an initial migraine diagnosis from a neurologist, said Alice R. Pressman, PhD at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

Dr. Pressman, executive director of research, development, and dissemination for Sutter Health, and her research colleagues analyzed data from primary care patients who sought care for migraine in the Sutter Health healthcare network in Northern California. They found that women were 10% more likely than men to consult a neurologist and that Asian patients had a longer time to a first neurology encounter for migraine, compared with Caucasian patients.

“Those who sought care from neurology had more severe migraine symptomology, disability, and comorbidities,” the researchers reported. Furthermore, patients with migraine seen by neurologists were more likely to receive prescriptions for acute and preventive migraine medications, compared with patients only seen by primary care physicians.

The study, known as the Migraine Signature Study, used electronic health records (EHR) and patient-reported questionnaire data to examine the clinical experiences and care of patients with migraine.

The primary care population consisted of 1.4 million adults with at least one office visit to primary care in 2013-2017. Using the validated Migraine Probability Algorithm, the researchers identified approximately 94,000 patients who sought care for migraine.

The investigators also invited 38,536 patients to complete an online survey about migraine criteria, symptomology, health resource utilization, and patient-reported outcomes such as disability, acute treatment optimization, cutaneous allodynia, depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Of the patients who sought care for migraine, 72,624 patients did not receive migraine care from neurology, and 21,525 did.

Patients with migraine care from a neurologist were more likely to have at least one acute migraine medication order (89.4% vs. 80.6%), at least one preventive migraine medication order (78.6% vs. 49.1%), and any migraine medication order (95.3% vs. 85.9%). In addition, those with at least one medication order in the primary care setting had fewer orders per person per year, compared with those with at least one medication order in the neurology setting (1.1 vs. 1.6).

About one-third of the patients who sought care for migraine had no migraine encounters in the first 12 months of the study. Of the more than 33,000 patients with first migraine consults, approximately two-thirds did not receive a neurology consultation during the study and received their migraine diagnosis in the primary care setting.

Of the 31% of patients with first migraine consults in primary care who later had a neurology consult, two-thirds received a migraine diagnosis from neurology. “The high rate of initial migraine diagnosis within neurology was surprising among this sample with primary care encounters first,” the researchers said.

The investigators also examined patient-reported outcomes from 391 respondents who received migraine care from neurology and 399 respondents who received migraine care from primary care. “Patients who consulted a neurologist were likely to report moderate-to-severe disability, poor acute treatment optimization, and major depression,” they said. “Allodynia, anxiety, and PTSD did not differ by type of provider.”

Confounding may have influenced the results, and the researchers plan to assess factors such as headache frequency and severity using patient-reported survey data in future analyses.

The Migraine Signature Study was supported by Amgen, Inc.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – A surprisingly large number of patients with migraine who first seek care for migraine in a primary care setting receive an initial migraine diagnosis from a neurologist, said Alice R. Pressman, PhD at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

Dr. Pressman, executive director of research, development, and dissemination for Sutter Health, and her research colleagues analyzed data from primary care patients who sought care for migraine in the Sutter Health healthcare network in Northern California. They found that women were 10% more likely than men to consult a neurologist and that Asian patients had a longer time to a first neurology encounter for migraine, compared with Caucasian patients.

“Those who sought care from neurology had more severe migraine symptomology, disability, and comorbidities,” the researchers reported. Furthermore, patients with migraine seen by neurologists were more likely to receive prescriptions for acute and preventive migraine medications, compared with patients only seen by primary care physicians.

The study, known as the Migraine Signature Study, used electronic health records (EHR) and patient-reported questionnaire data to examine the clinical experiences and care of patients with migraine.

The primary care population consisted of 1.4 million adults with at least one office visit to primary care in 2013-2017. Using the validated Migraine Probability Algorithm, the researchers identified approximately 94,000 patients who sought care for migraine.

The investigators also invited 38,536 patients to complete an online survey about migraine criteria, symptomology, health resource utilization, and patient-reported outcomes such as disability, acute treatment optimization, cutaneous allodynia, depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Of the patients who sought care for migraine, 72,624 patients did not receive migraine care from neurology, and 21,525 did.

Patients with migraine care from a neurologist were more likely to have at least one acute migraine medication order (89.4% vs. 80.6%), at least one preventive migraine medication order (78.6% vs. 49.1%), and any migraine medication order (95.3% vs. 85.9%). In addition, those with at least one medication order in the primary care setting had fewer orders per person per year, compared with those with at least one medication order in the neurology setting (1.1 vs. 1.6).

About one-third of the patients who sought care for migraine had no migraine encounters in the first 12 months of the study. Of the more than 33,000 patients with first migraine consults, approximately two-thirds did not receive a neurology consultation during the study and received their migraine diagnosis in the primary care setting.

Of the 31% of patients with first migraine consults in primary care who later had a neurology consult, two-thirds received a migraine diagnosis from neurology. “The high rate of initial migraine diagnosis within neurology was surprising among this sample with primary care encounters first,” the researchers said.

The investigators also examined patient-reported outcomes from 391 respondents who received migraine care from neurology and 399 respondents who received migraine care from primary care. “Patients who consulted a neurologist were likely to report moderate-to-severe disability, poor acute treatment optimization, and major depression,” they said. “Allodynia, anxiety, and PTSD did not differ by type of provider.”

Confounding may have influenced the results, and the researchers plan to assess factors such as headache frequency and severity using patient-reported survey data in future analyses.

The Migraine Signature Study was supported by Amgen, Inc.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy tailored for migraine may reduce migraine-related disability, even as the number of headache days and pain intensity remain unchanged, according to randomized clinical trial results.

“The fact that people can improve how they live their daily life even with the same amount of headache days and the same pain intensity is remarkable,” said study investigator Elizabeth K. Seng, PhD, associate professor of psychology at Yeshiva University and research associate professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, both in New York. “I think this gives us a little bit of a clue about when to use these kinds of treatments.”

Dr. Seng presented findings from the phase 2b pilot trial at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

To study the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for migraine, Dr. Seng and her research colleagues recruited participants with migraine in the New York City area between 2015 and 2018. In all, 60 patients were randomized to receive 8 weekly individual 75-minute mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for migraine sessions or 8 weeks on a wait list with treatment as usual.

Primary outcomes were Month 0 to Month 4 changes in perceived disability, measured using the Henry Ford Disability Inventory (HDI) and functional disability measured using the Migraine Disability Assessment Scale (MIDAS). Secondary outcomes included changes in headache days per 30 days and headache pain intensity.

Participants had a mean age of about 40 years, about 92% were women, and approximately half of the patients had chronic migraine. Participants had an average baseline HDI of 51.4, and 83.3% had MIDAS scores indicating severe disability. Patients averaged 10.4 headache attack days per month, and mean headache attack severity on a 0-10 scale was 6.2. Attrition did not significantly differ between the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and control groups.

Patients who received mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for migraine experienced an approximately 15-point reduction on the HDI scale at 4 months, whereas wait-listed patients did not experience much of a change, Dr. Seng said. The difference between groups was statistically significant.

At 4 months, a smaller proportion of patients in the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy group had a MIDAS score of 21 or greater, but the difference between groups was not statistically significant. The data indicate a large effect that the study was underpowered to detect, Dr. Seng said.

A planned subgroup analysis found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy produced changes in disability that were greater in patients with episodic migraine, compared with patients with chronic migraine. A reduction in MIDAS scores was statistically significant among patients with episodic migraine.

During the trial, one patient experienced increased headache frequency and intensity and changed their preventive treatment regimen, which investigators considered unrelated to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. In addition, one patient experienced flooding – a vivid recollection of a traumatic event – which is an expected effect of meditation and relaxation therapy, Dr. Seng said. The patient completed the study and was satisfied with the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy training, she said.

“Preliminary evidence suggests that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy could be recommended to reduce headache-related disability in people with episodic migraine or people who have some kind of effective prevention on board, but they are still experiencing high levels of disability,” Dr. Seng said.

Although flooding may occur in patients with a trauma history who use meditation and relaxation, the techniques still may be useful, Dr. Seng said. “In the VA setting, we use meditation and relaxation all the time. But it helps to forewarn patients that they might experience distressful flooding and [to provide] techniques that they can use to reduce the impact of that.”

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy tailored for migraine may reduce migraine-related disability, even as the number of headache days and pain intensity remain unchanged, according to randomized clinical trial results.

“The fact that people can improve how they live their daily life even with the same amount of headache days and the same pain intensity is remarkable,” said study investigator Elizabeth K. Seng, PhD, associate professor of psychology at Yeshiva University and research associate professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, both in New York. “I think this gives us a little bit of a clue about when to use these kinds of treatments.”

Dr. Seng presented findings from the phase 2b pilot trial at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

To study the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for migraine, Dr. Seng and her research colleagues recruited participants with migraine in the New York City area between 2015 and 2018. In all, 60 patients were randomized to receive 8 weekly individual 75-minute mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for migraine sessions or 8 weeks on a wait list with treatment as usual.

Primary outcomes were Month 0 to Month 4 changes in perceived disability, measured using the Henry Ford Disability Inventory (HDI) and functional disability measured using the Migraine Disability Assessment Scale (MIDAS). Secondary outcomes included changes in headache days per 30 days and headache pain intensity.

Participants had a mean age of about 40 years, about 92% were women, and approximately half of the patients had chronic migraine. Participants had an average baseline HDI of 51.4, and 83.3% had MIDAS scores indicating severe disability. Patients averaged 10.4 headache attack days per month, and mean headache attack severity on a 0-10 scale was 6.2. Attrition did not significantly differ between the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and control groups.

Patients who received mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for migraine experienced an approximately 15-point reduction on the HDI scale at 4 months, whereas wait-listed patients did not experience much of a change, Dr. Seng said. The difference between groups was statistically significant.

At 4 months, a smaller proportion of patients in the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy group had a MIDAS score of 21 or greater, but the difference between groups was not statistically significant. The data indicate a large effect that the study was underpowered to detect, Dr. Seng said.

A planned subgroup analysis found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy produced changes in disability that were greater in patients with episodic migraine, compared with patients with chronic migraine. A reduction in MIDAS scores was statistically significant among patients with episodic migraine.

During the trial, one patient experienced increased headache frequency and intensity and changed their preventive treatment regimen, which investigators considered unrelated to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. In addition, one patient experienced flooding – a vivid recollection of a traumatic event – which is an expected effect of meditation and relaxation therapy, Dr. Seng said. The patient completed the study and was satisfied with the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy training, she said.

“Preliminary evidence suggests that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy could be recommended to reduce headache-related disability in people with episodic migraine or people who have some kind of effective prevention on board, but they are still experiencing high levels of disability,” Dr. Seng said.

Although flooding may occur in patients with a trauma history who use meditation and relaxation, the techniques still may be useful, Dr. Seng said. “In the VA setting, we use meditation and relaxation all the time. But it helps to forewarn patients that they might experience distressful flooding and [to provide] techniques that they can use to reduce the impact of that.”

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy tailored for migraine may reduce migraine-related disability, even as the number of headache days and pain intensity remain unchanged, according to randomized clinical trial results.

“The fact that people can improve how they live their daily life even with the same amount of headache days and the same pain intensity is remarkable,” said study investigator Elizabeth K. Seng, PhD, associate professor of psychology at Yeshiva University and research associate professor of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, both in New York. “I think this gives us a little bit of a clue about when to use these kinds of treatments.”

Dr. Seng presented findings from the phase 2b pilot trial at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

To study the efficacy of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for migraine, Dr. Seng and her research colleagues recruited participants with migraine in the New York City area between 2015 and 2018. In all, 60 patients were randomized to receive 8 weekly individual 75-minute mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for migraine sessions or 8 weeks on a wait list with treatment as usual.

Primary outcomes were Month 0 to Month 4 changes in perceived disability, measured using the Henry Ford Disability Inventory (HDI) and functional disability measured using the Migraine Disability Assessment Scale (MIDAS). Secondary outcomes included changes in headache days per 30 days and headache pain intensity.

Participants had a mean age of about 40 years, about 92% were women, and approximately half of the patients had chronic migraine. Participants had an average baseline HDI of 51.4, and 83.3% had MIDAS scores indicating severe disability. Patients averaged 10.4 headache attack days per month, and mean headache attack severity on a 0-10 scale was 6.2. Attrition did not significantly differ between the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and control groups.

Patients who received mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for migraine experienced an approximately 15-point reduction on the HDI scale at 4 months, whereas wait-listed patients did not experience much of a change, Dr. Seng said. The difference between groups was statistically significant.

At 4 months, a smaller proportion of patients in the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy group had a MIDAS score of 21 or greater, but the difference between groups was not statistically significant. The data indicate a large effect that the study was underpowered to detect, Dr. Seng said.

A planned subgroup analysis found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy produced changes in disability that were greater in patients with episodic migraine, compared with patients with chronic migraine. A reduction in MIDAS scores was statistically significant among patients with episodic migraine.

During the trial, one patient experienced increased headache frequency and intensity and changed their preventive treatment regimen, which investigators considered unrelated to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. In addition, one patient experienced flooding – a vivid recollection of a traumatic event – which is an expected effect of meditation and relaxation therapy, Dr. Seng said. The patient completed the study and was satisfied with the mindfulness-based cognitive therapy training, she said.

“Preliminary evidence suggests that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy could be recommended to reduce headache-related disability in people with episodic migraine or people who have some kind of effective prevention on board, but they are still experiencing high levels of disability,” Dr. Seng said.

Although flooding may occur in patients with a trauma history who use meditation and relaxation, the techniques still may be useful, Dr. Seng said. “In the VA setting, we use meditation and relaxation all the time. But it helps to forewarn patients that they might experience distressful flooding and [to provide] techniques that they can use to reduce the impact of that.”

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – Patients with a history of migraine who underwent any type of surgery and then received a perioperative prescription for a headache abortive agent such as a triptan had 37% fewer readmissions for pain during the 30 days following surgery compared with patients who did not receive a migraine abortive prescription, according to an observational review of nearly 22,000 migraine patients from the Boston area.

Mitchel L. Zoler/MDedge News

While this statistically significant observational association must be viewed with caution, it provides compelling evidence for clinicians to prescribe a migraine abortive agent to migraineurs soon after surgery so that patients have these drugs handy if a migraine strikes, a possibility made likely by the stress and disruption of surgery, Katharina Platzbecker, MD, said at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

Postoperative migraine patients who received an abortive prescription specifically for a triptan or ergotamine showed an even stronger protective association, with an adjusted, statistically-significant 67% reduced rate of 30-day readmission for pain compared with the 50% of migraine patients who did not receive an abortive agent prescription after their surgery, said Dr. Platzbecker, a research fellow in the department of anesthesia, critical care, and pain medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Only 8% of patients in the study received a triptan or ergotamine, with the vast majority of these patients getting a triptan.

The other types of abortive drugs prescribed perioperatively to migraine patients were NSAIDs or acetaminophen, received by 47% of the patients studied. The adjusted analysis showed that patients who received a prescription for one of these drugs had a statistically significant 35% reduced rate of 30-day readmission for pain. Patients who did not receive a prescription for a migraine abortive drug often got an opioid prescription, which went to 87% of the entire study population. Some patients received perioperative prescriptions for more than one drug. The analysis also showed that periopertive opioid prescriptions had no significant association with the 30-day rate of pain readmissions. In addition, prescription of any pain-reducing medication immediately prior to surgery as prophylaxis, which occurred in 17% of patients, had no significant association with the rate of 30-day postoperative pain readmission.


Despite the lack of clear causal evidence, clinicians should “definitely” be more aggressive in prescribing abortive treatments, especially triptans, to patients with a history of migraine who undergo surgery, Dr. Platzbecker said in an interview. These patients “are likely at risk for migraine [episodes] after surgery,”

Her study used data collected from nearly 25,000 patients with a history of a migraine billing diagnosis who underwent surgery and was a patient in either the Beth Israel or Partners (Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital) health systems during 2005-2017. Complete data that fulfilled the requirements of the study were available for 21,932 of these patients, of whom 11,011 (50%) received a perioperative prescription for an abortive drug and 10,921 (50%) did not. The prescribing occurred totally at the discretion of each patient’s physicians and surgeons. The researchers defined perioperative prescription as a billing entry for a drug anytime after surgery and within 30 days of hospital discharge or until readmission. The entire group studied averaged about 50 years old, more than 80% were women, and those who received an abortive treatment prescription generally had longer surgeries, more inpatient surgeries, and higher rates of various comorbidities. The adjusted statistical analysis took into account baseline differences like these.

Additional sensitivity analyses showed that perioperative prescriptions for abortive treatments also linked with significant reductions in all 30-day hospital readmissions, and with 30-day pain readmissions in patients who received surgery as inpatients as well as in those who were outpatients, and the association was specific to migraine patients. When Dr. Platzbecker expanded the group of patients she examined to more than 62,000 with any headache diagnosis the association between receiving a prescription for an abortive treatment and reduced 30-day pain readmissions became statistically insignificant.

Dr. Platzbecker and her associates previously reported results from an adjusted analysis showing that patients from the same database with a history of migraine who underwent surgery had an overall 42% increased rate of 30-day readmissions for pain compared with surgery patients who had no migraine history (Cephalagia. 2019 Feb;39[2]:286-95).

Dr. Platzbecker had no commercial disclosures.

[email protected]

On Twitter @mitchelzoler

This article was updated 7/16/19.

PHILADELPHIA – Patients with a history of migraine who underwent any type of surgery and then received a perioperative prescription for a headache abortive agent such as a triptan had 37% fewer readmissions for pain during the 30 days following surgery compared with patients who did not receive a migraine abortive prescription, according to an observational review of nearly 22,000 migraine patients from the Boston area.

Mitchel L. Zoler/MDedge News

While this statistically significant observational association must be viewed with caution, it provides compelling evidence for clinicians to prescribe a migraine abortive agent to migraineurs soon after surgery so that patients have these drugs handy if a migraine strikes, a possibility made likely by the stress and disruption of surgery, Katharina Platzbecker, MD, said at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

Postoperative migraine patients who received an abortive prescription specifically for a triptan or ergotamine showed an even stronger protective association, with an adjusted, statistically-significant 67% reduced rate of 30-day readmission for pain compared with the 50% of migraine patients who did not receive an abortive agent prescription after their surgery, said Dr. Platzbecker, a research fellow in the department of anesthesia, critical care, and pain medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Only 8% of patients in the study received a triptan or ergotamine, with the vast majority of these patients getting a triptan.

The other types of abortive drugs prescribed perioperatively to migraine patients were NSAIDs or acetaminophen, received by 47% of the patients studied. The adjusted analysis showed that patients who received a prescription for one of these drugs had a statistically significant 35% reduced rate of 30-day readmission for pain. Patients who did not receive a prescription for a migraine abortive drug often got an opioid prescription, which went to 87% of the entire study population. Some patients received perioperative prescriptions for more than one drug. The analysis also showed that periopertive opioid prescriptions had no significant association with the 30-day rate of pain readmissions. In addition, prescription of any pain-reducing medication immediately prior to surgery as prophylaxis, which occurred in 17% of patients, had no significant association with the rate of 30-day postoperative pain readmission.


Despite the lack of clear causal evidence, clinicians should “definitely” be more aggressive in prescribing abortive treatments, especially triptans, to patients with a history of migraine who undergo surgery, Dr. Platzbecker said in an interview. These patients “are likely at risk for migraine [episodes] after surgery,”

Her study used data collected from nearly 25,000 patients with a history of a migraine billing diagnosis who underwent surgery and was a patient in either the Beth Israel or Partners (Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital) health systems during 2005-2017. Complete data that fulfilled the requirements of the study were available for 21,932 of these patients, of whom 11,011 (50%) received a perioperative prescription for an abortive drug and 10,921 (50%) did not. The prescribing occurred totally at the discretion of each patient’s physicians and surgeons. The researchers defined perioperative prescription as a billing entry for a drug anytime after surgery and within 30 days of hospital discharge or until readmission. The entire group studied averaged about 50 years old, more than 80% were women, and those who received an abortive treatment prescription generally had longer surgeries, more inpatient surgeries, and higher rates of various comorbidities. The adjusted statistical analysis took into account baseline differences like these.

Additional sensitivity analyses showed that perioperative prescriptions for abortive treatments also linked with significant reductions in all 30-day hospital readmissions, and with 30-day pain readmissions in patients who received surgery as inpatients as well as in those who were outpatients, and the association was specific to migraine patients. When Dr. Platzbecker expanded the group of patients she examined to more than 62,000 with any headache diagnosis the association between receiving a prescription for an abortive treatment and reduced 30-day pain readmissions became statistically insignificant.

Dr. Platzbecker and her associates previously reported results from an adjusted analysis showing that patients from the same database with a history of migraine who underwent surgery had an overall 42% increased rate of 30-day readmissions for pain compared with surgery patients who had no migraine history (Cephalagia. 2019 Feb;39[2]:286-95).

Dr. Platzbecker had no commercial disclosures.

[email protected]

On Twitter @mitchelzoler

This article was updated 7/16/19.

PHILADELPHIA – Patients with a history of migraine who underwent any type of surgery and then received a perioperative prescription for a headache abortive agent such as a triptan had 37% fewer readmissions for pain during the 30 days following surgery compared with patients who did not receive a migraine abortive prescription, according to an observational review of nearly 22,000 migraine patients from the Boston area.

Mitchel L. Zoler/MDedge News

While this statistically significant observational association must be viewed with caution, it provides compelling evidence for clinicians to prescribe a migraine abortive agent to migraineurs soon after surgery so that patients have these drugs handy if a migraine strikes, a possibility made likely by the stress and disruption of surgery, Katharina Platzbecker, MD, said at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

Postoperative migraine patients who received an abortive prescription specifically for a triptan or ergotamine showed an even stronger protective association, with an adjusted, statistically-significant 67% reduced rate of 30-day readmission for pain compared with the 50% of migraine patients who did not receive an abortive agent prescription after their surgery, said Dr. Platzbecker, a research fellow in the department of anesthesia, critical care, and pain medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Only 8% of patients in the study received a triptan or ergotamine, with the vast majority of these patients getting a triptan.

The other types of abortive drugs prescribed perioperatively to migraine patients were NSAIDs or acetaminophen, received by 47% of the patients studied. The adjusted analysis showed that patients who received a prescription for one of these drugs had a statistically significant 35% reduced rate of 30-day readmission for pain. Patients who did not receive a prescription for a migraine abortive drug often got an opioid prescription, which went to 87% of the entire study population. Some patients received perioperative prescriptions for more than one drug. The analysis also showed that periopertive opioid prescriptions had no significant association with the 30-day rate of pain readmissions. In addition, prescription of any pain-reducing medication immediately prior to surgery as prophylaxis, which occurred in 17% of patients, had no significant association with the rate of 30-day postoperative pain readmission.


Despite the lack of clear causal evidence, clinicians should “definitely” be more aggressive in prescribing abortive treatments, especially triptans, to patients with a history of migraine who undergo surgery, Dr. Platzbecker said in an interview. These patients “are likely at risk for migraine [episodes] after surgery,”

Her study used data collected from nearly 25,000 patients with a history of a migraine billing diagnosis who underwent surgery and was a patient in either the Beth Israel or Partners (Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital) health systems during 2005-2017. Complete data that fulfilled the requirements of the study were available for 21,932 of these patients, of whom 11,011 (50%) received a perioperative prescription for an abortive drug and 10,921 (50%) did not. The prescribing occurred totally at the discretion of each patient’s physicians and surgeons. The researchers defined perioperative prescription as a billing entry for a drug anytime after surgery and within 30 days of hospital discharge or until readmission. The entire group studied averaged about 50 years old, more than 80% were women, and those who received an abortive treatment prescription generally had longer surgeries, more inpatient surgeries, and higher rates of various comorbidities. The adjusted statistical analysis took into account baseline differences like these.

Additional sensitivity analyses showed that perioperative prescriptions for abortive treatments also linked with significant reductions in all 30-day hospital readmissions, and with 30-day pain readmissions in patients who received surgery as inpatients as well as in those who were outpatients, and the association was specific to migraine patients. When Dr. Platzbecker expanded the group of patients she examined to more than 62,000 with any headache diagnosis the association between receiving a prescription for an abortive treatment and reduced 30-day pain readmissions became statistically insignificant.

Dr. Platzbecker and her associates previously reported results from an adjusted analysis showing that patients from the same database with a history of migraine who underwent surgery had an overall 42% increased rate of 30-day readmissions for pain compared with surgery patients who had no migraine history (Cephalagia. 2019 Feb;39[2]:286-95).

Dr. Platzbecker had no commercial disclosures.

[email protected]

On Twitter @mitchelzoler

This article was updated 7/16/19.

PHILADELPHIA – Migraine patients fared as well when managed for a year by telemedicine as when managed by a 12-month series of routine office visits in a single-center, randomized trial with 40 patients, the first reported randomized study of the impact of true telemedicine on mid-term migraine management.

“Telemedicine was viable and produced similar outcomes at 1 year in a highly disabled cohort,” Deborah I. Friedman, MD, said at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. Many patients expressed high satisfaction with the approach. In addition to resulting in predictably shorter travel times for patients, it also linked with a cut in the consultation length by about a quarter, reported Dr. Friedman, a professor of neurology and chief of the division of headache medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

“There is a lot of opportunity for telemedicine, particularly in headache medicine because usually after the first visit we mostly just talk with patients with no further examinations, so it lends itself to telemedicine. It extends your reach.” Dr. Friedman said in a video interview. It is particularly attractive to patients who live a substantial distance from the clinic or find it hard to fit an office visit into their schedule, but some participants said they preferred the direct interaction of an office visit, she noted.

In addition to showing the efficacy of telemedicine in this setting, Dr. Friedman said that she hoped the findings may help pave the way for easier insurance payment for telemedicine consultations with migraineurs.

“One of the main reasons I did this study was to provide evidence to use for compensation for telemedicine visits. It will be good to have evidence in the medical literature that the outcomes are similar and that nothing is lost in patient care with telemedicine,” she said.

The study randomized 40 patients scheduled to see Dr. Friedman for the first time for a migraine consultation and to start treatment. After all patients had their initial office visit and examination, 22 of the patients entered the telemedicine arm and had follow-up consultations after 4-6 weeks, and after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. The remaining 18 patients were randomized to receive these consultations in the office. Eighteen of the telemedicine patients and 12 of the in-office patients returned for a 12-month assessment. Patients averaged about 40 years old, they had actual or potential travel distances for in-office visits that in some cases exceeded 300 miles one way, and their Migraine Disability Assessment score averaged just above 40.

The telmedicine patients completed 93% of their visits compared with 88% of the in-office patients, a difference that was not statistically different. Migraine Disability Assessment scores improved by an average of 24 points in the telemedicine patients and by an average 19 points among the in-office controls, a difference that was not significant. The two groups also showed similar levels of treatment response for reductions in number of headache days and headache severity improvement. Average session length was 25 minutes with telemedicine and 34 minutes in office, a statistically significant difference that Dr. Friedman attributed to the interest by patients who have traveled long distances to see her to “get their money’s worth” from their visit.


Dr. Friedman highlighted the importance of having the visual aspect of a telemedicine consultation in addition to the conversation. For the trial the audio-visual link was via a standard laptop connection. Some patients assigned to telemedicine voiced regret over not being able to be examined, immediately start a new treatment, or receive drug samples. Dr. Friedman said that she couldn’t think of any migraine patients to whom she wouldn’t offer the option of telemedicine visits following an initial, in-person visit. But her use of telemedicine in routine practice is on hold right now as her institution, UT Southwestern, is still working out its consent and billing system, she said.

The study received partial funding from Merck. Dr. Friedman had no relevant disclosures.

[email protected]

On Twitter @mitchelzoler

SOURCE: Friedman DI. Headache. 2019 June;59[S1]:1-208, LBOR01.

PHILADELPHIA – Migraine patients fared as well when managed for a year by telemedicine as when managed by a 12-month series of routine office visits in a single-center, randomized trial with 40 patients, the first reported randomized study of the impact of true telemedicine on mid-term migraine management.

“Telemedicine was viable and produced similar outcomes at 1 year in a highly disabled cohort,” Deborah I. Friedman, MD, said at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. Many patients expressed high satisfaction with the approach. In addition to resulting in predictably shorter travel times for patients, it also linked with a cut in the consultation length by about a quarter, reported Dr. Friedman, a professor of neurology and chief of the division of headache medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

“There is a lot of opportunity for telemedicine, particularly in headache medicine because usually after the first visit we mostly just talk with patients with no further examinations, so it lends itself to telemedicine. It extends your reach.” Dr. Friedman said in a video interview. It is particularly attractive to patients who live a substantial distance from the clinic or find it hard to fit an office visit into their schedule, but some participants said they preferred the direct interaction of an office visit, she noted.

In addition to showing the efficacy of telemedicine in this setting, Dr. Friedman said that she hoped the findings may help pave the way for easier insurance payment for telemedicine consultations with migraineurs.

“One of the main reasons I did this study was to provide evidence to use for compensation for telemedicine visits. It will be good to have evidence in the medical literature that the outcomes are similar and that nothing is lost in patient care with telemedicine,” she said.

The study randomized 40 patients scheduled to see Dr. Friedman for the first time for a migraine consultation and to start treatment. After all patients had their initial office visit and examination, 22 of the patients entered the telemedicine arm and had follow-up consultations after 4-6 weeks, and after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. The remaining 18 patients were randomized to receive these consultations in the office. Eighteen of the telemedicine patients and 12 of the in-office patients returned for a 12-month assessment. Patients averaged about 40 years old, they had actual or potential travel distances for in-office visits that in some cases exceeded 300 miles one way, and their Migraine Disability Assessment score averaged just above 40.

The telmedicine patients completed 93% of their visits compared with 88% of the in-office patients, a difference that was not statistically different. Migraine Disability Assessment scores improved by an average of 24 points in the telemedicine patients and by an average 19 points among the in-office controls, a difference that was not significant. The two groups also showed similar levels of treatment response for reductions in number of headache days and headache severity improvement. Average session length was 25 minutes with telemedicine and 34 minutes in office, a statistically significant difference that Dr. Friedman attributed to the interest by patients who have traveled long distances to see her to “get their money’s worth” from their visit.


Dr. Friedman highlighted the importance of having the visual aspect of a telemedicine consultation in addition to the conversation. For the trial the audio-visual link was via a standard laptop connection. Some patients assigned to telemedicine voiced regret over not being able to be examined, immediately start a new treatment, or receive drug samples. Dr. Friedman said that she couldn’t think of any migraine patients to whom she wouldn’t offer the option of telemedicine visits following an initial, in-person visit. But her use of telemedicine in routine practice is on hold right now as her institution, UT Southwestern, is still working out its consent and billing system, she said.

The study received partial funding from Merck. Dr. Friedman had no relevant disclosures.

[email protected]

On Twitter @mitchelzoler

SOURCE: Friedman DI. Headache. 2019 June;59[S1]:1-208, LBOR01.

PHILADELPHIA – Migraine patients fared as well when managed for a year by telemedicine as when managed by a 12-month series of routine office visits in a single-center, randomized trial with 40 patients, the first reported randomized study of the impact of true telemedicine on mid-term migraine management.

“Telemedicine was viable and produced similar outcomes at 1 year in a highly disabled cohort,” Deborah I. Friedman, MD, said at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. Many patients expressed high satisfaction with the approach. In addition to resulting in predictably shorter travel times for patients, it also linked with a cut in the consultation length by about a quarter, reported Dr. Friedman, a professor of neurology and chief of the division of headache medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

“There is a lot of opportunity for telemedicine, particularly in headache medicine because usually after the first visit we mostly just talk with patients with no further examinations, so it lends itself to telemedicine. It extends your reach.” Dr. Friedman said in a video interview. It is particularly attractive to patients who live a substantial distance from the clinic or find it hard to fit an office visit into their schedule, but some participants said they preferred the direct interaction of an office visit, she noted.

In addition to showing the efficacy of telemedicine in this setting, Dr. Friedman said that she hoped the findings may help pave the way for easier insurance payment for telemedicine consultations with migraineurs.

“One of the main reasons I did this study was to provide evidence to use for compensation for telemedicine visits. It will be good to have evidence in the medical literature that the outcomes are similar and that nothing is lost in patient care with telemedicine,” she said.

The study randomized 40 patients scheduled to see Dr. Friedman for the first time for a migraine consultation and to start treatment. After all patients had their initial office visit and examination, 22 of the patients entered the telemedicine arm and had follow-up consultations after 4-6 weeks, and after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. The remaining 18 patients were randomized to receive these consultations in the office. Eighteen of the telemedicine patients and 12 of the in-office patients returned for a 12-month assessment. Patients averaged about 40 years old, they had actual or potential travel distances for in-office visits that in some cases exceeded 300 miles one way, and their Migraine Disability Assessment score averaged just above 40.

The telmedicine patients completed 93% of their visits compared with 88% of the in-office patients, a difference that was not statistically different. Migraine Disability Assessment scores improved by an average of 24 points in the telemedicine patients and by an average 19 points among the in-office controls, a difference that was not significant. The two groups also showed similar levels of treatment response for reductions in number of headache days and headache severity improvement. Average session length was 25 minutes with telemedicine and 34 minutes in office, a statistically significant difference that Dr. Friedman attributed to the interest by patients who have traveled long distances to see her to “get their money’s worth” from their visit.


Dr. Friedman highlighted the importance of having the visual aspect of a telemedicine consultation in addition to the conversation. For the trial the audio-visual link was via a standard laptop connection. Some patients assigned to telemedicine voiced regret over not being able to be examined, immediately start a new treatment, or receive drug samples. Dr. Friedman said that she couldn’t think of any migraine patients to whom she wouldn’t offer the option of telemedicine visits following an initial, in-person visit. But her use of telemedicine in routine practice is on hold right now as her institution, UT Southwestern, is still working out its consent and billing system, she said.

The study received partial funding from Merck. Dr. Friedman had no relevant disclosures.

[email protected]

On Twitter @mitchelzoler

SOURCE: Friedman DI. Headache. 2019 June;59[S1]:1-208, LBOR01.

PHILADELPHIA – The headache field is not free of the gender bias that affects medicine in general, said Elizabeth W. Loder, MD, chief of the Division of Headache and Pain at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. Women accrue credentials and are accorded respect as headache experts more slowly than men, she said. They are underrepresented among the speakers at headache conferences and are less likely than men to be invited to write editorials for peer-reviewed publications. Furthermore, a significant proportion of female headache specialists experiences sexual harassment in their professional environments.

Bias also affects interactions between patients and headache specialists, said Dr. Loder. Regardless of their gender, patients expect female care providers to be sympathetic and understanding. If they perceive that a female physician does not sufficiently display these attributes, they often write critical reviews of them on the Internet. In contrast, male physicians are not expected to be particularly caring, and patients praise them highly when they are.

Recognition of these biases is increasing, however. Representation of women in professional societies and on conference programs will improve, and emerging codes of conduct will reduce sexual harassment, said Dr. Loder. Headache specialists can take various steps, such as offering recognition and encouragement, to make the field more welcoming to women and to other disadvantaged groups.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – The headache field is not free of the gender bias that affects medicine in general, said Elizabeth W. Loder, MD, chief of the Division of Headache and Pain at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. Women accrue credentials and are accorded respect as headache experts more slowly than men, she said. They are underrepresented among the speakers at headache conferences and are less likely than men to be invited to write editorials for peer-reviewed publications. Furthermore, a significant proportion of female headache specialists experiences sexual harassment in their professional environments.

Bias also affects interactions between patients and headache specialists, said Dr. Loder. Regardless of their gender, patients expect female care providers to be sympathetic and understanding. If they perceive that a female physician does not sufficiently display these attributes, they often write critical reviews of them on the Internet. In contrast, male physicians are not expected to be particularly caring, and patients praise them highly when they are.

Recognition of these biases is increasing, however. Representation of women in professional societies and on conference programs will improve, and emerging codes of conduct will reduce sexual harassment, said Dr. Loder. Headache specialists can take various steps, such as offering recognition and encouragement, to make the field more welcoming to women and to other disadvantaged groups.

[email protected]

PHILADELPHIA – The headache field is not free of the gender bias that affects medicine in general, said Elizabeth W. Loder, MD, chief of the Division of Headache and Pain at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society. Women accrue credentials and are accorded respect as headache experts more slowly than men, she said. They are underrepresented among the speakers at headache conferences and are less likely than men to be invited to write editorials for peer-reviewed publications. Furthermore, a significant proportion of female headache specialists experiences sexual harassment in their professional environments.

Bias also affects interactions between patients and headache specialists, said Dr. Loder. Regardless of their gender, patients expect female care providers to be sympathetic and understanding. If they perceive that a female physician does not sufficiently display these attributes, they often write critical reviews of them on the Internet. In contrast, male physicians are not expected to be particularly caring, and patients praise them highly when they are.

Recognition of these biases is increasing, however. Representation of women in professional societies and on conference programs will improve, and emerging codes of conduct will reduce sexual harassment, said Dr. Loder. Headache specialists can take various steps, such as offering recognition and encouragement, to make the field more welcoming to women and to other disadvantaged groups.

[email protected]