[en] AIM:
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 ii) a questionnaire to assess current headache medication and previous physician diagnosis, (ii) the ID Migraine Screener [ID-M] and (iii) the MIDAS questionnaire.
RESULTS:
Forty-four % 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=51). 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 among subjects seeking self-medication for regular headache. Community pharmacists have a strategic position in education and referral of these self-medicating headache patients.
Research Center/Unit :
Centre Interfacultaire de Recherche du Médicament - CIRM
Disciplines :
Pharmacy, pharmacology & toxicology
Author, co-author :
Mehuys, Els
Paemeleire, Koen
Van Hees, Thierry ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de pharmacie > Pharmacie clinique et pharmacie hospitalière
Christiaens, Thierry
Van Bortel, Lucas
Van Tongelen, Inge
Philippe, Geneviève ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Services généraux (Faculté de médecine) > Service administratif de la Faculté (Médecine)
Prévôt, Marie-Laurence; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de pharmacie > Département de pharmacie
Evrard, Brigitte ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de pharmacie > Pharmacie galénique
Piette, Marie ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de pharmacie > Pharmacie galénique
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