BACKGROUND: Early treatment of migraine with sumatriptan 50 mg and 100 mg, while pain is mild, has been reported to enhance pain-free response 2 hours and 4 hours postdose and sustained pain-free response 2 to 24 hours postdose compared with treatment when pain has become moderate to severe. Early treatment with sumatriptan 50 mg and 100 mg also resulted in less redosing, which translated to a reduction in the mean number of doses used per migraine episode. OBJECTIVE: We examined the economic implications of early treatment with sumatriptan 50 mg and 100 mg while pain is mild versus treatment when pain has become moderate to severe. METHODS: Using data from retrospective analyses of a dose-ranging clinical trial of sumatriptan (protocol S2CM09) involving 1003 patients, we estimated the mean cost per treatment success for a hypothetical population of 1000 migraine patients who received treatment with sumatriptan 50-mg or 100-mg tablets early while pain was mild versus treatment when pain had become moderate to severe. RESULTS: With a conservative estimate of migraine frequency of 1.5 episodes per month, the total cost of early migraine treatment with sumatriptan 50 mg and 100 mg was reduced by $31.68 and $20.16, respectively, per patient per year. The average cost per pain-free treatment success was reduced by 32% to 57% with sumatriptan 50 mg and 100 mg if migraines were treated while pain was mild in intensity versus when pain had become moderate to severe. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of migraine with sumatriptan 50-mg and 100-mg tablets is effective regardless of whether pain is mild, moderate, or severe. However, initiating treatment while pain is mild may be more cost-effective than delaying treatment until pain has become moderate to severe.
BACKGROUND: Early treatment of migraine with sumatriptan 50 mg and 100 mg, while pain is mild, has been reported to enhance pain-free response 2 hours and 4 hours postdose and sustained pain-free response 2 to 24 hours postdose compared with treatment when pain has become moderate to severe. Early treatment with sumatriptan 50 mg and 100 mg also resulted in less redosing, which translated to a reduction in the mean number of doses used per migraine episode. OBJECTIVE: We examined the economic implications of early treatment with sumatriptan 50 mg and 100 mg while pain is mild versus treatment when pain has become moderate to severe. METHODS: Using data from retrospective analyses of a dose-ranging clinical trial of sumatriptan (protocol S2CM09) involving 1003 patients, we estimated the mean cost per treatment success for a hypothetical population of 1000 migrainepatients who received treatment with sumatriptan 50-mg or 100-mg tablets early while pain was mild versus treatment when pain had become moderate to severe. RESULTS: With a conservative estimate of migraine frequency of 1.5 episodes per month, the total cost of early migraine treatment with sumatriptan 50 mg and 100 mg was reduced by $31.68 and $20.16, respectively, per patient per year. The average cost per pain-free treatment success was reduced by 32% to 57% with sumatriptan 50 mg and 100 mg if migraines were treated while pain was mild in intensity versus when pain had become moderate to severe. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of migraine with sumatriptan 50-mg and 100-mg tablets is effective regardless of whether pain is mild, moderate, or severe. However, initiating treatment while pain is mild may be more cost-effective than delaying treatment until pain has become moderate to severe.
Authors: Jennifer Elston Lafata; Christina Moon; Carol Leotta; Ken Kolodner; Laila Poisson; Richard B Lipton Journal: J Gen Intern Med Date: 2004-10 Impact factor: 5.128
Authors: L C Newman; R K Cady; S Landy; P O'Carroll; W J Kwong; S P Burch; A C Nelsen; S A McDonald Journal: Int J Clin Pract Date: 2008-12 Impact factor: 2.503