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, researchers wrote. Utilization of health care resources and associated costs are greater among patients with three or more treatment failures, compared with patients with fewer treatment failures. This research was presented online as part of the 2020 American Academy of Neurology Science Highlights.
Migraine entails a significant economic burden, including direct costs (e.g., medical costs) and indirect costs (e.g., lost productivity). Information about the burden associated with failed preventive treatments among migraineurs is limited, however. Lawrence C. Newman, MD, director of the division of headache at NYU Langone Health in New York, and colleagues conducted a study to characterize health care resource utilization (HCRU) and its associated costs among migraineurs, stratified by the number of preventive treatment failures.
About one quarter of patients had two treatment failures
Using data from the IBM MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental database, Dr. Newman and colleagues identified patients who received a new diagnosis of migraine between Jan. 1, 2011, and June 30, 2015. Next, they identified the number of treatment failures during the 2 years following the initial migraine diagnosis. They assessed HCRU and associated costs during the 12 months following an index event. The index was the date of initiation of the second preventive treatment for patients with one treatment failure, the date of initiation of the third treatment for patients with two treatment failures, and the date of initiation of the fourth treatment for patients with three or more treatment failures.
Dr. Newman’s group identified 44,181 patients with incident migraine who had failed preventive treatments. Of this population, 27,112 patients (61.4%) had one treatment failure, 10,583 (24%) had two treatment failures, and 6,486 (14.7%) had three or more treatment failures.
The total medical cost per patient, including emergency room (ER), inpatient (IP), and outpatient (OP) care, increased with increasing number of treatment failures ($10,329 for one, $13,774 for two, and $35,392 for three or more). When the investigators added prescription drug costs, the total health care costs also increased with number of treatment failures ($13,946 for one, $18,685 for two, and $41,864 for three or more).
Similarly, the per-patient annual health care provider visits increased with increasing numbers of treatment failures. The number of ER visits per year was 0.54, 0.69, and 1.02 for patients with one, two, and three or more treatment failures, respectively. The annual number of IP visits was 0.46, 0.59, and 0.97, for patients with one, two, and three or more treatment failures, respectively. OP visits showed a similar trend. The annual number of office visits was 9.47 for patients with one, 11.24 for patients with two, and 14.26 for patients with three or more treatment failures. The annual number of other visits was 13.15 for patients with one, 15.73 for patients with two, and 19.96 for patients with three or more treatment failures.
Guidelines could enable appropriate treatment
Reasons for treatment failure include misdiagnosis of the headache disorder, failure to identify and account for comorbidities, overlooking concurrent acute medication overuse, and inappropriate dose or formulation, said Dr. Newman. “Common pitfalls in prevention that lead to treatment failure include not using evidence-based treatments, starting at too low of a dose and not increasing, starting too high or increasing the dose too quickly, discontinuing the medication before an effect can be seen (before 8 weeks), patient nonadherence, and not establishing realistic expectations.”
Available resources could help clinicians treat migraine effectively. “The American Headache Society (AHS)/AAN preventive guidelines have been retired, yet they offered several levels of effectiveness of pharmacologic treatments that were evidence-based,” said Dr. Newman. “Furthermore, in 2019, the AHS published a consensus statement on integrating new migraine treatments into clinical practice. This statement offered advice about the new anti-CGRP agents, onabotulinum toxin, and neuromodulation devices. I think this is a good starting point for neurologists to be familiar with to choose appropriate therapeutic options for people living with migraine.”
Earlier treatment may reduce patients’ economic burden
The study’s weaknesses included its observational design and its reliance on diagnostic codes, which raised the possibility that comorbidities were inadequately recognized, said Dr. Newman. The reasons that patients changed medications are unknown, and the results are not generalizable to patients aged 65 years or older, he added.
Major strengths of Dr. Newman’s study are its large sample size and wealth of available data, said Alan M. Rapoport, MD, clinical professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles. “The multiple subcategories suggest that this was a carefully organized and implemented study,” he added. If any diagnoses of migraine were provided by general practitioners with little knowledge of migraine, this would weaken the study, said Dr. Rapoport, editor-in-chief of Neurology Reviews.
“We can ease the economic burden of migraineurs by improving acute care therapy with better selection and earlier starting of effective preventive therapy,” he continued. “Going for migraine-specific acute care therapy is better than pain medications or other nonspecific therapies. If you do not stop a migraine attack with effective therapy, you increase the odds that the patient will go on to chronic migraine. It is always important to effectively teach doctors and nurses to improve their diagnostic skills and use the optimal acute and preventive therapy.” For their next trial, maximizing an accurate diagnosis and performing a prospective study measuring treatment outcomes will be particularly valuable, Dr. Rapoport concluded.
Dr. Newman’s study was supported by Novartis Pharma in Basel, Switzerland. Together with Amgen, Novartis developed erenumab. Dr. Newman has received compensation from Allergan, Alder, Amgen, Biohaven, Novartis, Teva, Supernus, and Theranica for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities. He has received compensation from Springer Scientific for editorial services.
SOURCE: Newman L et al. AAN 2020, Abstract S47.009.
, researchers wrote. Utilization of health care resources and associated costs are greater among patients with three or more treatment failures, compared with patients with fewer treatment failures. This research was presented online as part of the 2020 American Academy of Neurology Science Highlights.
Migraine entails a significant economic burden, including direct costs (e.g., medical costs) and indirect costs (e.g., lost productivity). Information about the burden associated with failed preventive treatments among migraineurs is limited, however. Lawrence C. Newman, MD, director of the division of headache at NYU Langone Health in New York, and colleagues conducted a study to characterize health care resource utilization (HCRU) and its associated costs among migraineurs, stratified by the number of preventive treatment failures.
About one quarter of patients had two treatment failures
Using data from the IBM MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental database, Dr. Newman and colleagues identified patients who received a new diagnosis of migraine between Jan. 1, 2011, and June 30, 2015. Next, they identified the number of treatment failures during the 2 years following the initial migraine diagnosis. They assessed HCRU and associated costs during the 12 months following an index event. The index was the date of initiation of the second preventive treatment for patients with one treatment failure, the date of initiation of the third treatment for patients with two treatment failures, and the date of initiation of the fourth treatment for patients with three or more treatment failures.
Dr. Newman’s group identified 44,181 patients with incident migraine who had failed preventive treatments. Of this population, 27,112 patients (61.4%) had one treatment failure, 10,583 (24%) had two treatment failures, and 6,486 (14.7%) had three or more treatment failures.
The total medical cost per patient, including emergency room (ER), inpatient (IP), and outpatient (OP) care, increased with increasing number of treatment failures ($10,329 for one, $13,774 for two, and $35,392 for three or more). When the investigators added prescription drug costs, the total health care costs also increased with number of treatment failures ($13,946 for one, $18,685 for two, and $41,864 for three or more).
Similarly, the per-patient annual health care provider visits increased with increasing numbers of treatment failures. The number of ER visits per year was 0.54, 0.69, and 1.02 for patients with one, two, and three or more treatment failures, respectively. The annual number of IP visits was 0.46, 0.59, and 0.97, for patients with one, two, and three or more treatment failures, respectively. OP visits showed a similar trend. The annual number of office visits was 9.47 for patients with one, 11.24 for patients with two, and 14.26 for patients with three or more treatment failures. The annual number of other visits was 13.15 for patients with one, 15.73 for patients with two, and 19.96 for patients with three or more treatment failures.
Guidelines could enable appropriate treatment
Reasons for treatment failure include misdiagnosis of the headache disorder, failure to identify and account for comorbidities, overlooking concurrent acute medication overuse, and inappropriate dose or formulation, said Dr. Newman. “Common pitfalls in prevention that lead to treatment failure include not using evidence-based treatments, starting at too low of a dose and not increasing, starting too high or increasing the dose too quickly, discontinuing the medication before an effect can be seen (before 8 weeks), patient nonadherence, and not establishing realistic expectations.”
Available resources could help clinicians treat migraine effectively. “The American Headache Society (AHS)/AAN preventive guidelines have been retired, yet they offered several levels of effectiveness of pharmacologic treatments that were evidence-based,” said Dr. Newman. “Furthermore, in 2019, the AHS published a consensus statement on integrating new migraine treatments into clinical practice. This statement offered advice about the new anti-CGRP agents, onabotulinum toxin, and neuromodulation devices. I think this is a good starting point for neurologists to be familiar with to choose appropriate therapeutic options for people living with migraine.”
Earlier treatment may reduce patients’ economic burden
The study’s weaknesses included its observational design and its reliance on diagnostic codes, which raised the possibility that comorbidities were inadequately recognized, said Dr. Newman. The reasons that patients changed medications are unknown, and the results are not generalizable to patients aged 65 years or older, he added.
Major strengths of Dr. Newman’s study are its large sample size and wealth of available data, said Alan M. Rapoport, MD, clinical professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles. “The multiple subcategories suggest that this was a carefully organized and implemented study,” he added. If any diagnoses of migraine were provided by general practitioners with little knowledge of migraine, this would weaken the study, said Dr. Rapoport, editor-in-chief of Neurology Reviews.
“We can ease the economic burden of migraineurs by improving acute care therapy with better selection and earlier starting of effective preventive therapy,” he continued. “Going for migraine-specific acute care therapy is better than pain medications or other nonspecific therapies. If you do not stop a migraine attack with effective therapy, you increase the odds that the patient will go on to chronic migraine. It is always important to effectively teach doctors and nurses to improve their diagnostic skills and use the optimal acute and preventive therapy.” For their next trial, maximizing an accurate diagnosis and performing a prospective study measuring treatment outcomes will be particularly valuable, Dr. Rapoport concluded.
Dr. Newman’s study was supported by Novartis Pharma in Basel, Switzerland. Together with Amgen, Novartis developed erenumab. Dr. Newman has received compensation from Allergan, Alder, Amgen, Biohaven, Novartis, Teva, Supernus, and Theranica for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities. He has received compensation from Springer Scientific for editorial services.
SOURCE: Newman L et al. AAN 2020, Abstract S47.009.
, researchers wrote. Utilization of health care resources and associated costs are greater among patients with three or more treatment failures, compared with patients with fewer treatment failures. This research was presented online as part of the 2020 American Academy of Neurology Science Highlights.
Migraine entails a significant economic burden, including direct costs (e.g., medical costs) and indirect costs (e.g., lost productivity). Information about the burden associated with failed preventive treatments among migraineurs is limited, however. Lawrence C. Newman, MD, director of the division of headache at NYU Langone Health in New York, and colleagues conducted a study to characterize health care resource utilization (HCRU) and its associated costs among migraineurs, stratified by the number of preventive treatment failures.
About one quarter of patients had two treatment failures
Using data from the IBM MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental database, Dr. Newman and colleagues identified patients who received a new diagnosis of migraine between Jan. 1, 2011, and June 30, 2015. Next, they identified the number of treatment failures during the 2 years following the initial migraine diagnosis. They assessed HCRU and associated costs during the 12 months following an index event. The index was the date of initiation of the second preventive treatment for patients with one treatment failure, the date of initiation of the third treatment for patients with two treatment failures, and the date of initiation of the fourth treatment for patients with three or more treatment failures.
Dr. Newman’s group identified 44,181 patients with incident migraine who had failed preventive treatments. Of this population, 27,112 patients (61.4%) had one treatment failure, 10,583 (24%) had two treatment failures, and 6,486 (14.7%) had three or more treatment failures.
The total medical cost per patient, including emergency room (ER), inpatient (IP), and outpatient (OP) care, increased with increasing number of treatment failures ($10,329 for one, $13,774 for two, and $35,392 for three or more). When the investigators added prescription drug costs, the total health care costs also increased with number of treatment failures ($13,946 for one, $18,685 for two, and $41,864 for three or more).
Similarly, the per-patient annual health care provider visits increased with increasing numbers of treatment failures. The number of ER visits per year was 0.54, 0.69, and 1.02 for patients with one, two, and three or more treatment failures, respectively. The annual number of IP visits was 0.46, 0.59, and 0.97, for patients with one, two, and three or more treatment failures, respectively. OP visits showed a similar trend. The annual number of office visits was 9.47 for patients with one, 11.24 for patients with two, and 14.26 for patients with three or more treatment failures. The annual number of other visits was 13.15 for patients with one, 15.73 for patients with two, and 19.96 for patients with three or more treatment failures.
Guidelines could enable appropriate treatment
Reasons for treatment failure include misdiagnosis of the headache disorder, failure to identify and account for comorbidities, overlooking concurrent acute medication overuse, and inappropriate dose or formulation, said Dr. Newman. “Common pitfalls in prevention that lead to treatment failure include not using evidence-based treatments, starting at too low of a dose and not increasing, starting too high or increasing the dose too quickly, discontinuing the medication before an effect can be seen (before 8 weeks), patient nonadherence, and not establishing realistic expectations.”
Available resources could help clinicians treat migraine effectively. “The American Headache Society (AHS)/AAN preventive guidelines have been retired, yet they offered several levels of effectiveness of pharmacologic treatments that were evidence-based,” said Dr. Newman. “Furthermore, in 2019, the AHS published a consensus statement on integrating new migraine treatments into clinical practice. This statement offered advice about the new anti-CGRP agents, onabotulinum toxin, and neuromodulation devices. I think this is a good starting point for neurologists to be familiar with to choose appropriate therapeutic options for people living with migraine.”
Earlier treatment may reduce patients’ economic burden
The study’s weaknesses included its observational design and its reliance on diagnostic codes, which raised the possibility that comorbidities were inadequately recognized, said Dr. Newman. The reasons that patients changed medications are unknown, and the results are not generalizable to patients aged 65 years or older, he added.
Major strengths of Dr. Newman’s study are its large sample size and wealth of available data, said Alan M. Rapoport, MD, clinical professor of neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles. “The multiple subcategories suggest that this was a carefully organized and implemented study,” he added. If any diagnoses of migraine were provided by general practitioners with little knowledge of migraine, this would weaken the study, said Dr. Rapoport, editor-in-chief of Neurology Reviews.
“We can ease the economic burden of migraineurs by improving acute care therapy with better selection and earlier starting of effective preventive therapy,” he continued. “Going for migraine-specific acute care therapy is better than pain medications or other nonspecific therapies. If you do not stop a migraine attack with effective therapy, you increase the odds that the patient will go on to chronic migraine. It is always important to effectively teach doctors and nurses to improve their diagnostic skills and use the optimal acute and preventive therapy.” For their next trial, maximizing an accurate diagnosis and performing a prospective study measuring treatment outcomes will be particularly valuable, Dr. Rapoport concluded.
Dr. Newman’s study was supported by Novartis Pharma in Basel, Switzerland. Together with Amgen, Novartis developed erenumab. Dr. Newman has received compensation from Allergan, Alder, Amgen, Biohaven, Novartis, Teva, Supernus, and Theranica for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities. He has received compensation from Springer Scientific for editorial services.
SOURCE: Newman L et al. AAN 2020, Abstract S47.009.
From AAN 2020
