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The Multinational Impact of Migraine Symptoms on Healthcare Utilisation and Work Loss

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Abstract

Objective: To compare self-reported healthcare resource utilisation, paid work loss, unpaid work loss and loss of effectiveness at work due to migraine in a clinic-based adult migraine population.

Methods: The Migraine Background Questionnaire© (MBQ) was translated and pilot-tested for use in 25 countries. The questionnaire was then self-administered by patients at a screening visit for 3 phase III clinical trials of rizatriptan [a selective serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) 5-HT1B/1Dreceptor agonist] in 23 US and 78 non-US sites.

Participants: Persons 18 to 65 years of age with at least a 6-month history of moderate to severe migraines prior to the screening visit were surveyed.

Results: A total of 2670 persons (54.7% Europe, 16.5% Latin America, 23.1% North America, 5.5% other countries) completed the MBQ and had responses which could be analysed. On average, each patient reported 2.78 doctor visits, 0.53 emergency room visits and 0.06 hospitalisations related to migraine per year. Patients self-reported being only 46% effective while on the job with migraine symptoms. Extrapolation of patient self-reported work and productivity loss for the last 4 weeks to an annual basis suggested that clinic-based patients with migraine lose 19.5 workday equivalents (8.3 days due to absenteeism, 11.2 days due to reduced workday equivalents) due to migraine per year. In the US, the annual employer cost of this total migraine-related work loss is estimated to be $US3309 (2000 values) per patient with migraine. The levels of self-reported healthcare resources utilised for migraine and work loss were generally consistent across geographic regions.

Conclusions: The impact of migraine symptoms on healthcare resource utilisation and work loss was similar across most measures in Europe, Latin America, North America and other countries. Total migraine-related work loss due to absenteeism and reduced workday equivalents accounts for most of the economic burden of migraine, regardless of country, in a clinic-based migraine population.

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Acknowledgements

Supported by Merck & Co., Inc., New Jersey, USA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Outcomes Research, Merck & Co., Inc., One Merck Drive, PO Box 100, WS1B-70, Whitehouse Station, NJ, 08889-0100, USA

    William C. Gerth (Director), George W. Carides, Erik J. Dasbach, W. Hester Visser & Nancy C. Santanello

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  1. William C. Gerth
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  2. George W. Carides
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  3. Erik J. Dasbach
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  4. W. Hester Visser
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  5. Nancy C. Santanello
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Correspondence to William C. Gerth.

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Gerth, W.C., Carides, G.W., Dasbach, E.J. et al. The Multinational Impact of Migraine Symptoms on Healthcare Utilisation and Work Loss. Pharmacoeconomics 19, 197–206 (2001). https://doi.org/10.2165/00019053-200119020-00006

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