BOSTON—Patient education at the time of triptan prescription has multiple benefits, according to a study presented at the 2013 International Headache Congress.
Triptan users who recalled having received education at the time of prescription better recognized the importance of taking the triptan immediately at headache onset, thus treating their migraine when pain is mild; understood that it is not necessary to fail treatment with OTC medications before triptan use; and understood that coronary artery disease is a contraindication to triptan use. In addition, the majority of migraine users did not believe it was complicated to understand how and when to take the triptan, felt educated about their prescribed triptan, and felt aware of triptan side effects.
Lead author Eric P. Baron, DO, from the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, and colleagues sought to compare triptan users’ self-perceived versus actual knowledge about triptans in patients who recalled receiving triptan education versus those who did not. The researchers conducted a multicenter observational study of 207 patients using triptans for migraine abortive therapy who were identified as new patients at academic headache specialty clinics in the US, including the Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic Rochester, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Montefiore Headache Center, Thomas Jefferson University, and the University of South Florida.
“We know that patient education is crucial for safe and effective treatment with triptans,” Dr. Baron said, “but we also sought to evaluate the direct benefit of patient education, as well as ascertain how many patients were actually getting information on their medications.” The study was supported by the American Headache Society via an investigator-initiated research grant from Merck.
Compared with patients who did not receive education about when to take a triptan, those who did receive education more often acknowledged that triptan use is not indicated only after OTC medication failure, that it is best to take a triptan early in the course of a migraine, that it is best to take the triptan immediately after a migraine begins, and that persons with coronary artery disease or those with depression should not take triptans.
Similarly, compared with patients who thought it was complicated to understand how and when to take a triptan, patients who did not think it was complicated more often acknowledged that only one dose per day is allowed, that triptan use is not dependent on OTC medication failure, and that early use of a triptan—when pain is mild—is best.
—Glenn S. Williams
Vice President/Group Editor