title: Characteristics, impact and treatment of 6000 headache attacks: the PAMINA study.
abstract: The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate the characteristics of headache attacks, their impact on daily activities as well as the type and efficacy of acute medication in patients with migraine. We included 281 patients with episodic migraine (87% females, aged 41.2±12.1). All patients kept a headache diary for 3 months covering headache characteristics, therapy and questions adopted from the Headache Impact Test (HIT-6) for rating the impact of each single headache attack (HIT-6s). For evaluating the efficacy of acute medication we compared triptans with other compounds using headache duration as outcome parameter. Of 6051 headache attacks 52.8% fulfilled the ICHD-II criteria of migraine. The HIT-6s score was 2.4±2.2 (range 0-6). It was lowest in untreated headaches (2.0±2.1) and highest in those treated with a combination of triptans and other compounds (4.1±2.0, p<0.001). Patients used triptans on 8.0% of all headache days, other compounds on 33.1%, a combination of both on 1.5% and no medication on 57.3% of the headache days. Migraine attacks of moderate or severe intensity treated with triptans alone lasted significantly shorter than those treated with other compounds (5.1±3.6 vs. 6.9±5.3h, p<0.001). In conclusion, almost 50% of the headaches occurring in patients with migraine do not fulfill migraine criteria. Use of triptans is associated with a shorter duration of moderate and severe migraine attacks compared to use of other compounds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Doris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lieba-Samal
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wöber
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Ciçek
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wöber-Bingöl
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D020773:Headache Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014363:Tryptamines / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D014363:Tryptamines