Prophylaxis for migraine headache: a pharmacoepidemiological study of practices used by primary care physicians and neurologists in France.

A pharmacoepidemiological survey was conducted in order to understand the p attern of migraine prophylactic drug utilization by French physicians. Neur ologists and primary care physicians completed a phone-mail-phone questionn aire which inquired about migraine prophylactic treatment. French neurologi sts and PCP made the same use of migraine prophylaxis in terms of indicatio n, time interval between treatment onset and evaluation, and duration. The two most commonly chosen migraine prophylactic agents were dihydroergotamin e and beta-blockers. This study also showed the importance of considering q uality of life to evaluate efficacy of migraine prophylaxis.