BACKGROUND: This observational community pharmacy-based study aimed to investigate headache characteristics and medication use of persons with regular headache presenting for self-medication. METHODS: Participants (n = 1205) completed (i) a questionnaire to assess current headache medication and previous physician diagnosis, (ii) the ID Migraine Screener (ID-M), and (iii) the Migraine Disability Assessment questionnaire. RESULTS: Forty-four percentage of the study population (n = 528) did not have a physician diagnosis of their headache, and 225 of them (225/528, 42.6%) were found to be ID-M positive. The most commonly used acute headache drugs were paracetamol (used by 62% of the study population), NSAIDs (39%), and combination analgesics (36%). Only 12% of patients physician-diagnosed with migraine used prophylactic migraine medication, and 25% used triptans. About 24% of our sample (n = 292) chronically overused acute medication, which was combination analgesic overuse (n = 166), simple analgesic overuse (n = 130), triptan overuse (n = 19), ergot overuse (n = 6), and opioid overuse (n = 5). Only 14.5% was ever advised to limit intake frequency of acute headache treatments. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified underdiagnosis of migraine, low use of migraine prophylaxis and triptans, and high prevalence of medication overuse amongst subjects seeking self-medication for regular headache. Community pharmacists have a strategic position in education and referral of these self-medicating headache patients.
BACKGROUND: This observational community pharmacy-based study aimed to investigate headache characteristics and medication use of persons with regular headache presenting for self-medication. METHODS:Participants (n = 1205) completed (i) a questionnaire to assess current headache medication and previous physician diagnosis, (ii) the ID Migraine Screener (ID-M), and (iii) the Migraine Disability Assessment questionnaire. RESULTS: Forty-four percentage of the study population (n = 528) did not have a physician diagnosis of their headache, and 225 of them (225/528, 42.6%) were found to be ID-M positive. The most commonly used acute headache drugs were paracetamol (used by 62% of the study population), NSAIDs (39%), and combination analgesics (36%). Only 12% of patients physician-diagnosed with migraine used prophylactic migraine medication, and 25% used triptans. About 24% of our sample (n = 292) chronically overused acute medication, which was combination analgesic overuse (n = 166), simple analgesic overuse (n = 130), triptan overuse (n = 19), ergot overuse (n = 6), and opioid overuse (n = 5). Only 14.5% was ever advised to limit intake frequency of acute headache treatments. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified underdiagnosis of migraine, low use of migraine prophylaxis and triptans, and high prevalence of medication overuse amongst subjects seeking self-medication for regular headache. Community pharmacists have a strategic position in education and referral of these self-medicating headachepatients.
Authors: Pia Frisk; Sofia K Sporrong; Gunnar Ljunggren; Björn Wettermark; Mia von Euler Journal: Eur J Clin Pharmacol Date: 2016-02-27 Impact factor: 2.953
Authors: Timothy J Steiner; Rigmor Jensen; Zaza Katsarava; Lars Jacob Stovner; Derya Uluduz; Latifa Adarmouch; Mohammed Al Jumah; Ali M Al Khathaami; Messoud Ashina; Mark Braschinsky; Susan Broner; Jon H Eliasson; Raquel Gil-Gouveia; Juan B Gómez-Galván; Larus S Gudmundsson; Akbar A Herekar; Nfwama Kawatu; Najib Kissani; Girish Baburao Kulkarni; Elena R Lebedeva; Matilde Leonardi; Mattias Linde; Otgonbayar Luvsannorov; Youssoufa Maiga; Ivan Milanov; Dimos D Mitsikostas; Teymur Musayev; Jes Olesen; Vera Osipova; Koen Paemeleire; Mario F P Peres; Guiovanna Quispe; Girish N Rao; Ajay Risal; Elena Ruiz de la Torre; Deanna Saylor; Mansoureh Togha; Sheng-Yuan Yu; Mehila Zebenigus; Yared Zenebe Zewde; Jasna Zidverc-Trajković; Michela Tinelli Journal: J Headache Pain Date: 2021-07-21 Impact factor: 7.277