An open preference study with sumatriptan 50 mg and zolmitriptan 2.5 mg in100 migraine patients

Understanding factors influencing patients' preference will improve guidanc e to make rational choices in expanded symptomatic migraine treatment. The objective of this open-label, cross-over study was to explore patients' pre ferences for sumatriptan 50 mg vs. zolmitriptan 2.5 mg tablets, focusing on factors influencing this preference. One hundred consecutive migraine pati ents attending our clinics were asked to treat three attacks with each medi cation and then fill out a preference questionnaire. Ninety-four migraineur s completed the trial and 42 (44%, 95% Cl 34-58%) reported that they prefer red zolmitriptan 2.5 mg over sumatriptan 50 mg tablets and 27 (29%, 20-38%) preferred sumatriptan 50 mg. The remaining 25 (27%, 18-36%) did not show a ny preference. For the initial treatment of the attacks, there were more pa tients needing just one tablet of zolmitriptan 2.5 mg compared with sumatri ptan 50 mg (67 vs. 39%). The reasons for preference among those 69 patients who had shown preference for either of the two triptans were: a faster ons et of action (speed of onset) (73%), a longer duration of the effects (39%) , fewer adverse events (35%) and lower price (13%). Only one-quarter of the studied migraine population thought that sumatriptan 50 mg and zolmitripta n 2.5 mg were equivalent, which suggests that most migraine patients differ entiate between triptans. A faster onset of action (speed of onset) was the most important reason for preference.