Assessing health-related quality of life in patients with migraine.
BACKGROUND
The place of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instruments in clinical research trials and clinical practice as compared to more traditional clinical outcome measures such as headache intensity and frequency is unclear.


OBJECTIVE
To review the current status of HRQoL measurement in migraine.


METHODS
A literature search was done for HRQoL and migraine. Selected articles dealing with migraine and commonly used HRQoL instruments and HRQoL measures used in recent clinical trials were reviewed.


RESULTS
Several general and migraine specific HRQoL instruments can detect changes over time in response to at least major changes in migraine therapy. Both also show a correlation with clinical headache features. However, their sensitivity to detect clinically significant changes over time is not clear.


CONCLUSIONS
The SF-36, a general HRQoL measure and several migraine-specific HRQoL instruments are useful endpoints for migraine clinical trials. Their role in clinical practice is yet to be established.
W J
WJ
Becker
D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*