Gianna Melillo

 Italian researchers compiled data on 548 patients suffering from chronic and episodic migraines enrolled in a tertiary level headache center to determine overall costs incurred.

The authors concluded that costs were significantly higher for women with migraines than men ($1693.86 [€1517] versus $1422.53 [€1274]; P = .013) and that costs resulting from migraine treatment increased as the patients got older (P = .0002).

In addition, the annual direct cost incurred by patients with chronic migraines (CM) was 4.8-fold higher than those with episodic migraines (EM) ($2278.56 [€2037] vs $477.64 [€427]; P = .0001).

Data from patients’ electronic medical records were collected and only patients with CM and EM  who underwent continuous treatment in the 2 years prior to January 2019 while at the Regional Referral Headache Center of Rome, Italy, were included in the study.

This methodology was used to “prevent distortions due to natural fluctuations in migraine status over time.”

Researchers also stated that by following this method, “it was possible to detect any changes in dosage and class of drugs and, therefore, provide better estimates of the cost of pharmacological treatments.”

This article originally appeared in sister publication AJMC. 

Negro A, Sciattella P, Rossi D, Guglielmetti M, Martelletti P, Mennini FS. Cost of chronic and episodic migraine patients in continuous treatment for two years in a tertiary level headache centre. 

2019;20(1):120. doi: 10.1186/s10194-019-1068-y.

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The authors concluded that costs were significantly higher for women with migraines than men and that costs resulting from migraine treatment increased as the patients got older.
 

Italian Study Finds Cost of Migraine Treatment Higher for Women, Elderly

In the first report of its kind, a recent study compiled Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service data from 2002 to 2013 to evaluate a bidirectional association between asthma and migraines in Korean adults.

Matching control subjects and patients by age, gender, income, past medical history, and region of residence, researchers determined asthma and migraines to be reciprocally associated. To conduct the study, researchers matched 113,059 control patients to 113,059 patients with asthma, and 114,176 control patients to 36,044 patients with migraines.

In the first cohort, 5.3% of the group with asthma reported experiencing migraines within a follow-up period of about 43 months. This group demonstrated an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 1.47 for migraines. By comparison, just 3.4% of the control group reported migraines in the same time period. Although 8% of patients with migraine reported having aura in this study, both migraines with and without aura rated higher for presence of asthma than the control group.

In the second cohort, the group experiencing migraines had a 15.4% rate of asthma after about 42 months, with an adjusted HR of 1.37. In 43 months, the control group reported a 10.6% rate of experiencing asthma.

This article originally appeared in sister publication 

Kim SY, Min C, Oh DJ, Lim JS, Choi HG. Bidirectional association between asthma and migraines in adults: two longitudinal follow-up studies. 

 2019;9(1):18343. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-54972-8.

In the first report of its kind, a recent study compiled Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service data from 2002 to 2013 to evaluate a bidirectional
association between asthma and migraines in Korean adults.