Optimizing Treatment in Acute Migraine: Stephanie J. Nahas, MD

"Acute treatments can come in many varieties, and there can be confusion on the part of patients and providers as to what is best to recommend for the patient. We can even take a step back and say that around half of people with migraine aren’t even diagnosed yet.”

The Chronic Migraine Epidemiology and Outcomes (CaMEO) study was conducted by a number of researchers to evaluate the effect of acute treatment optimization in participants with migraine across monthly headache day (MHD) frequency categories. The results, presented at the 2021 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting, April 17-22, showed that poor acute treatment optimization was associated with greater lost productive time (LPT).

The relationship was statistically significant for all MHD groups observed, except for those who experienced 8-14 MHDs. Participants experiencing more than 15 MHDs who had poor/very poor acute treatment had a mean increase in 3-month LPT, from 7.1 to 30.5 days. Stephanie J. Nahas, MD, was among the investigators of the study, and claims that although the results may not come as a great surprise, the magnitude of the data was shocking.

Nahas, an associate professor and director of the Headache Medicine Fellowship Program at Thomas Jefferson, sat down with NeurologyLive to discuss where these issues of poor treatment optimization stem from, along with ways clinicians can better tailor their regimens. This tailoring, she noted, is important in ensuring that patients get the most benefit from their therapy.

REFERENCE

Buse D, Nahas SJ, Stewart W, et al. Optimized acute treatment is associated with productivity gains in people with migraine: results from the Chronic Migraine Epidemiology and Outcomes (CaMEO) study. Presented at 2021 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting; April 17-22. Abstract P10.049