Most migraine patients often ignore treatment

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Even when a headache specialist refers migraine patients for proven behavioural treatments like biofeedback, relaxation training or cognitive behavioral therapy, barely half of them go, suggests a small US study.

Of 69 migraine sufferers treated at a large academic headache practice and referred for behavioural therapy, just 57 per cent got as far as making an appointment with the behavioral practitioner, researchers found. The patients who ignored their doctor’s recommendation cited time limitations as the main barrier to treatment. Concerns about cost and insurance coverage were also an issue. And some were skeptical about whether the treatment would work; others worried about the potential stigma of seeing a psychologist, the study team reports in the journal Pain Medicine.

“I hope that the impact of this study will be that more physicians, patients and payors will realize that these evidence- based treatments are being underutilised and are having an effect on the

Of 69 migraine sufferers treated at a large academic headache practice and referred for behavioural therapy, just 57 per cent got as far as making an appointment with the behavioral practitioner

opioid epidemic,” lead author Dr. Mia Minen, chief of headache research at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said in a telephone interview.

One in seven people in the US experience migraine headaches, but they are most common in women and may afflict up to one in four women aged 18 to 44.

The severe headache pain of migraines can be accompanied by sensitivity to light and sound as well as blurred vision, nausea and vomiting.

Opioids are still being prescribed as the first line of treatment for migraines when evidence shows that behavioral therapy is more effective and safer in treating migraines, Minen said.