Impact of migraine treatment on economic burden and workplace productivity among migraineurs employed in schools: A prospective study

Abstract

Background Less than half of migraineurs receive prescription treatment and this causes a great loss of economical resources. We aimed to evaluate the effect of migraine treatment on migraine-related economic burden among migraineurs employed in schools.

Methods Forty-two subjects with migraine with two or more attacks per month included in this study. The first three-month phase was screening phase, followed by "medication adjustment phase" and the "treatment phase". Subjects prescribed symptomatic treatment only or preventive and symptomatic treatment. All subjects kept the records of the frequency, intensity and duration of headaches, number of days missed from work, decreased productivity at work, number of acute medication intake and referral to the emergency department during an attack.

Results Frequency, severity and duration of headache, monthly headache days, analgesic intake per month, number of days with producvtivity loss were found to be significantly lower during treatment phase than screening phase (p<0.05). Impact of treatment started on the fourth and fifth months of the study. Direct cost in the treatment phase was significantly higher compared to the screening phase (p<0.05).

Conclusion Our study results showed that migraine treatment significantly decreased indirect cost of migraine. Maximum effort should be made by the headache societies in order to increase the treatment rates of migraine sufferers.