IMPACT OF SUMATRIPTAN ON CLINIC UTILIZATION AND COSTS OF CARE IN MIGRAINEURS

Background.-Although migraine headaches affect a large segment of the population, no objective measure of therapeutic success is currently a vailable. Comparing visit frequency and associated costs of cars befor e and after introduction of a new therapy represents an important surr ogate measure of success. Methods.-One hundred four patients regularly attending a headache clinic for migraines at a tertiary care hospital were instructed in the use of a new abortive migraine therapy. Medica l appointment and financial systems were searched retrospectively for visit frequency and associated patient care and institutional costs. T he number of visits and mean costs 18 months before and after initiati on of therapy were compared using the signed rank test and paired t-te st, respectively. Results.-The median number of visits made by study s ubjects to the headache clinic fell significantly following sumatripta n test dosing (P<0.001). Prior to the new treatment, mean total patien t care and institutional costs were $228.59 and $112.81 per person, re spectively, and fall to $135.93 and $78.16 (P<0.001) after therapy beg an. Conclusions.-These data suggest that many patients with migraine b enefit from sumatriptan, seek medical attention in a headache clinic l ess often, and incur fewer costs following initiation of treatment wit h this drug.