title: Patient-reported benefits of rizatriptan compared with usual non-triptan therapy for migraine in a primary care setting.
abstract: The purpose of this open-label study was to compare rizatriptan with usual non-triptan therapy for migraine in patients who had never received a triptan. Patient-reported outcomes were examined for a prestudy migraine attack and after three consecutive study attacks, the first and third treated with rizatriptan 10 mg wafer and the second with usual non-triptan therapy. A total of 97 patients (83% women; mean age 39 years) completed the study. Two-thirds of patients reported severe or total disability during migraine attacks. All comparisons between rizatriptan therapy and usual non-triptan therapy significantly favoured rizatriptan (p < or = 0.01). Headache relief by 2 hours was reported by 78-83% of patients after rizatriptan and by 46-48% of patients after usual therapy; 41-47% and 12-18%, respectively, were pain free at 2 hours. Patient satisfaction and migraine-specific quality-of-life scores were also significantly better for attacks treated with rizatriptan. At study end, 62% and 17% of patients were very or completely satisfied with rizatriptan and usual non-triptan therapy, respectively. Among those patients who worked for pay, therapy with rizatriptan significantly reduced absenteeism and improved the amount and quality of time at work compared with usual non-triptan therapy. Allowing patients to have experience with rizatriptan may improve the level of medical care for migraine attacks.
authors.affiliation: Healthcare Clinic, Collado Villalba, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Baos
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Serrano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Torrecilla
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bertral
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Caloto
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nocea
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Gerth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011788:Quality of Life; D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014230:Triazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014363:Tryptamines
chemical_list: D017366:Serotonin Receptor Agonists; D014230:Triazoles; D014363:Tryptamines; C093622:rizatriptan