Do You Have Migraine. Answer Three Simple Questions

Posting Date: 08/13/2003

?Because patients with migraine often present in the primary care setting, the hope is that ID Migraine will help primary care doctors identify migraine quickly and easily,? Dr. Lipton said. ?Given the availability of effective treatment, use of the screening tool might represent an important step toward reducing the burden of this illness.?

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?Headaches sometimes have serious causes not identified by the screener. Whether a patient has migraine or headaches due to other conditions, the ID migraine screener can help facilitate patient physician communication and the exchange of important information,? Dr. Lipton added.

Co-authors of the paper were: K. Kolodner, D. Dodick, R. Sadovsky, J. Endicott, J. Hettiarachchi and W. Harrison. The study was supported by funding from Pfizer Inc.

Migraine is more common than diabetes (16 million) and asthma (10.6 million). It is more prevalent in women: almost one in five women and one in 15 men suffer from migraine. The prevalence of migraine peaks at approximately 40 years of age, making it most common during the peak productive years of 25 to 55.

Fifty percent of individuals reported in one study that during their migraine attacks, they experience severe functional impairment and may require complete bed rest. The impairment and impact on health-related quality of life of migraine is substantial, equivalent to or greater than other chronic medical illnesses such as angina, diabetes, and hypertension. The economic impact of migraine is also substantial, with the annual cost to employers, in terms of reduced productivity and days missed from work, estimated at more than $13 billion, and annual medical costs that exceed $2 billion. The World Health Organization (WHO) ranks migraine among the world?s top 20 most disabling medical illnesses.

Abstract and article are available at http://www.neurology.org.

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