Who cares about migraine? Pathways and hurdles in the European region - access to care III

The Journal of Headache and Pain

Research

Teófila Vicente-Herrero¹  Roberto De Icco²  Cristina Tassorelli²  Gloria Vaghi²  Elena Ruiz de la Torre³  Peter J. Goadsby⁴ 

[1] ADEMA-SALUD University Institute of Health Sciences-IUNICS Illes Balears, Illes Balears, Spain;Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy;Headache Science and Neurorehabilitation Center, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy;EMHA, European Migraine and Headache Alliance, Brussels, Belgium;NIHR King’s Clinical Research Facility, King’s College London, London, UK;

关键词: Migraine;    Headache;    Burden;    Disability;    Pain;    Quality of life;    Chronic migraine;    Access to care;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s10194-023-01652-8

 received in 2023-07-24, accepted in 2023-08-15,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMigraine is a highly prevalent primary headache disorder and a leading cause of disability. Difficulties in access to care during diagnostic and therapeutic journey contribute to the disease burden. Several target-specific drugs have reached the market in the past four years and have modified the treatment paradigm in migraine. The aim of this study is to provide an updated snapshot of the pathways and hurdles to care for migraine in different European countries by directly asking patients.MethodsIn 2021 the European Migraine and Headache Alliance proposed a 39-item questionnaire that was administered online to an adult migraine population in European countries. Questions were focused on socio-demographic and migraine data, access to diagnosis and treatment, disease-related burden and the main channel for disease information.ResultsA total of 3169 questionnaires were returned from 10 European countries. Responders were predominantly females, age range 25–59 years, with a migraine history longer than 10 years in 82% of cases, and with at least 8 headache days per month in 57% of cases. Respondents reported limitations in social, working and personal life during both the ictal and interictal phase. The activities mostly impaired during the attacks were driving (55%), cooking or eating (42%), taking care of family/childcare (40%) and getting medicines at the pharmacy (40%). The most frequently reported unmet need was the long delay between the first visit and migraine diagnosis: 34% of respondents had to see ≥ 4 specialists before being correctly diagnosed, and between the diagnosis and treatment prescription: > 5 years in 40% of cases. The most relevant needs in terms of quality of life were the desire for a lower migraine frequency, an effective treatment and a greater involvement in society.ConclusionsData from the present survey point to the existence and persistence of multiple hurdles that result in significant limitations to access to care and to the patients’ social life. A close cooperation between decision makers, healthcare workers and patients is needed to overcome these barriers.Graphical Abstract

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Springer-Verlag Italia S.r.l., part of Springer Nature 2023

【 图 表 】

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