Assessment of health-related quality of life in migraine.

Assessment of HQL has become an important complement to the traditional methods that are used for objective registration of physiological, structural or biochemical processes during an illness. A generally applicable definition of HQL includes both subjective perception of one's life situation and objectively registrable health factors. This manner of evaluating quality of life perhaps will achieve further acceptance and thereby facilitate both reporting and evaluation of quality-of-life measurements. To document changes in HQL more precisely, reliable and valid test instruments with sufficient sensitivity to detect clinically relevant changes are essential. Available data indicate that the individual's personality, the migraine attack or its treatment or both can influence the patient's HQL. At present it is unclear which of the available acute treatments for migraine attacks produces the best general well-being or highest quality of life. It is probable that, as in other therapeutic areas, an optimal treatment result can only be achieved with an individualized therapeutic strategy.