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Migraine
Related Disability
Needs More Attention
NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - Describing how migraines hinder their
daily lives may help migraine sufferers get better treatment from
their doctors, according to researchers in the UK and the US.
Dr. William
F. Holmes, from Sherrington Park Medical Practice in Nottingham,
UK, and colleagues conducted two identical surveys--one of 42
neurologists and primary care physicians in North America and
the other of 63 similar physicians in Europe.
The doctors
assessed illness severity after viewing a videotaped interview
with a migraine patient who related a typical symptom history,
then again after hearing her describe details of migraine-related
disability-days lost at work and time taken from activities with
her family, for instance.
In another
part of the study, the doctors completed a questionnaire about
headache history taking.
The doctors
were found to primarily focus on recording symptoms such as pain
location and intensity rather than information on disability relating
to headache, the researchers report in a recent issue of the journal
Headache.
However, when
information on migraine-related disability was presented to them
in detail, physicians rated such disability ``as one of the most
important factors in assessing treatment needs,'' and they were
inclined to pursue a more aggressive treatment course.
Holmes and
colleagues note that the ``proportion of physicians who rated
the patient's illness as 'severe' (once they knew the disability
history) increased by 128% in North America (and) 27% in Europe.''
The proportion of physicians recommending immediate treatment
increased by 63% in the North American group and 37% in the European
group, with follow-up recommendations also increasing in both
groups.
``Physicians
and patients often fail to discuss headache-related disability
during consultation,'' the authors note.
``Tools to
improve communication about headache-related disability, such
as the Migraine Disability Assessment questionnaire, may favorably
improve migraine management,'' they conclude.
SOURCE:
Headache 2001;41:343-350.
Reference
Source 89
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