title: Verbal scales in the acute treatment of migraine: semantic categories and clinical relevance.
abstract: Verbal scales are currently used as efficacy parameters in acute migraine trials. In order to determine the correlation between headache intensity, functional disability, and relevant pain reduction, 100 patients completed a questionnaire. Our results showed that a verbal scale of headache intensity alone has different implications from one that includes pain intensity and functional ability. The reduction from a moderate to a mild headache was satisfactory to only 35% of the patients. In contrast, 77% of patients were satisfied when the headache intensity was reduced from severe to mild. These findings imply that, in assessing the efficacy of drugs used for migraine, a reduction in pain intensity from moderate to mild should not be considered as a good outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Hôpital Saint-Antoine, Paris, France.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Massiou
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tzourio
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: el Amrani
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Bousser
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome