Reliability and validity of the migraine therapy assessment questionnaire.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the reliability and validity of the Migraine Therapy Assessment Questionnaire (MTAQ).


METHODS
Eligible patients between ages 18 and 65 with at least one migraine per month, a physician visit in the preceding 6 months, and a migraine diagnosis were recruited from physician offices in the Philadelphia area. Participants completed the MTAQ, Short Form-36 (SF-36), the Migraine Disability Assessment Score (MIDAS), the Beck Depression Inventory, a demographic questionnaire, and a medication use survey. The first 100 participants completed a second MTAQ approximately 2 weeks later. The test-retest reliability, construct, and predictive validity of the MTAQ were assessed.


RESULTS
Two hundred fifty-one patients were recruited; 243 patients were assessable. All MTAQ questions had a kappa statistic of.5 or higher and an agreement of at least 76%. There was a significant level of agreement (.71) for the MTAQ summary score. MTAQ items regarding control, frequency, work loss, resource use, and satisfaction were associated with significant differences in SF-36 scores. MTAQ items related to work loss, emergency department use, headache frequency, and control were associated with days missed from work and degree of disability as measured by MIDAS. Suboptimal migraine management was significantly associated with MTAQ items indicating three or more headaches per month, missing time from work or school, taking daily medication for headaches, and having an emergency department visit in the last 6 months.


CONCLUSIONS
MTAQ is a reliable and valid questionnaire to identify migraineurs whose migraine management may be suboptimal in a primary care setting.
Chatterton
Mary Lou
ML
MLG Consulting Services, Inc, Chadds Ford, PA, USA.
Lofland
Jennifer H
JH
Shechter
Aaron
A
Curtice
Walter Scott
WS
Hu
X Henry
XH
Lenow
Jeffrey
J
Smullens
Stanton N
SN
Nash
David B
DB
Silberstein
Stephen D
SD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D015143:Philadelphia; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*