Sumatriptan treatment for migraine in a health maintenance organization: Economic, humanistic, and clinical outcomes

This study was undertaken to assess the impact of 12 months of sumatriptan therapy (6 mg subcutaneously) for migraine on health care use, health-relat ed quality of life, productivity, patient satisfaction with the medication, and clinical efficacy in a health maintenance organization (HMO). One hund red forty-eight patients received open-label sumatriptan for 12 months for the treatment of migraine. Medical records were reviewed to obtain informat ion on the frequency of migraine-related health care use during the 12 mont hs before and during sumatriptan treatment. Patients completed questionnair es on their productivity at work, health-related quality of life, and satis faction with medication at baseline and after 3, 6, and 12 months of sumatr iptan treatment. For each migraine, patients recorded pain severity scores before and after taking sumatriptan and the time between dosing and onset o f meaningful relief. Sumatriptan was associated with significant reductions in migraine-related use of general outpatient services, telephone calls, u rgent care services, and emergency department visits (P < 0.05); a signific ant increase in the use of pharmacy services (P < 0.05); and significant an d sustained improvements in health-related quality-of-life scores compared with baseline (P < 0.001). Patients lost significantly less time from work and were significantly more satisfied with sumatriptan compared with their usual therapy (P < 0.05). Two hours after dosing, 81% of patients experienc ed reduction of moderate or severe pain to mild or no pain, and 90% of all patients experienced meaningful relief of pain. The use of sumatriptan for 12 months in an HMO was associated with reductions in health care use and i mproved health-related quality of life, productivity, and patient satisfact ion with medication.