- More than 25% of patients reported being severely or very severely impacted by their migraine attacks
- Study showed higher levels of migraine-related disability were associated with increased HCRU costs in primary care and specialty settings among adults with episodic migraine
- Data suggests that assessment of disability in people with migraine may support prescribing of cost-effective interventions, particularly among those with severe disability
Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. (NYSE: BHVN) announced the publication of new real-world research showing that as migraine-related disability increases, healthcare utilization also increases among Americans with episodic migraine. Targeting high disability patients with effective treatments may reduce disability and improve the cost-effectiveness of medical care among primary care and specialty providers. These findings were published in the March issue of Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, the official journal of the American Headache Society.
Participants in this retrospective, cohort study were identified using claims and electronic health record data from the Decision Resources Group database. Adults (aged ≥18 years) were eligible if they had received a diagnosis of migraine with or without aura, as defined by International Classification of Disease codes (ICD-9 or ICD-10) and completed a Migraine Disability Assessment Scale (MIDAS) questionnaire between January 2016 and December 2018. Researchers explored the associations between migraine-related disability, as measured by MIDAS score, and the cost of HCRU for the 6 months after MIDAS assessment in primary care and specialty settings.
One of the important findings of the study is that among the 7,662 adults who were analyzed, 26% (1,982) reported severe or very severe disability. This translates to a median of approximately 33 days per quarter (derived from source data) wherein migraine patients were unable to pursue activities of daily living (absenteeism) or were severely impaired in these activities (presenteeism). Adjusted six month cost estimates, summarized in Figures 1 and 2, showed that higher levels of migraine-related disability were associated with increased medical and pharmacy costs.
“This study describes the relationships between MIDAS grades, healthcare resource utilization, and direct medical costs,” said Richard Lipton, M.D., professor and vice chair of Neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who developed the MIDAS instrument and is senior author on the study. “Our findings suggest that disability assessments in people with migraine may be used to target individuals with the most to gain from effective treatment. The cost offsets of effective treatment should be assessed in these most disabled and costly patient groups.”
Gil L’Italien Ph.D., Senior Vice President, GHEOR & Epidemiology, Biohaven, and co-author of the study, observed, “This analysis, derived from claims and health record data representing 90% of health plans in the United States further underscores the association between migraine disability and healthcare resource utilization, and establishes the MIDAS questionnaire as a useful tool for predicting and potentially controlling costs associated with migraine management.”
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