Background: Migraine imposes significant burden on patients, their families and health care systems. In this study, we compared episodic to chronic migraine sufferers to determine if migraine status ...predicted headache-related disability, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and health care resource utilization.
Methods: A Web-based survey was administered to panelists from nine countries. Participants were classified as having chronic migraine (CM), episodic migraine (EM) or neither using a validated questionnaire. Data collected and then analyzed included sociodemographics, clinical characteristics, Migraine Disability Assessment, Migraine-Specific Quality of Life v2.1, Patient Health Questionnaire and health care resource utilization.
Findings: Of the respondents, 5.7% had CM and 94.3% had EM, with CM patients reporting significantly more severe disability, lower HRQoL, higher levels of anxiety and depression and greater health care resource utilization compared to those with EM.
Interpretation: These results provide evidence that will enhance our understanding of the factors driving health care costs and will contribute to development of cost-effective health care strategies.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Objective.—To evaluate the performance and score interpretability of the Headache Impact Test (HIT‐6) questionnaire in a headache patient population.
Background.—The HIT‐6 is a standardized ...questionnaire designed to assess headache‐related disability. Norms have been established using randomly sampled respondents from the general population. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the HIT‐6 scale among new adult patients who presented for treatment at a university headache‐specialty practice.
Methods.—Participants were 309 new patients who presented for treatment at a headache‐specialty clinic in an academic medical center.
Results.—Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 91 years, with an average age of 41 years (SD = 13 years) and were predominantly female (77%). Over half (57%) experienced chronic daily headache. Scores ranged from 38 to 78, with an average of 65.6 (SD = 7.0) and the majority (87%) had “severe impact” (60 or higher). The scale showed high reliability (α= 0.87) and an exploratory factor analysis showed large loadings from |0.57| to |0.86| and suggested a single disability factor. Scores were moderately negatively correlated with Short Form Health Survey (SF‐36) subscales, ranging from −0.22 for mental health to −0.57 for social functioning. Item response theory analyses showed that half of the items functioned well across the disability continuum, while the remaining items discriminated between low and high levels of headache impact.
Conclusions.—These findings suggest that the HIT‐6 is useful for assessing headache‐related disability among patients who seek headache‐specialty care.
Limited data are available on acne treatment patterns, expectations, and satisfaction in the adult female subpopulation, particularly among different racial and ethnic groups.
Describe acne treatment ...patterns and expectations in adult females of different racial/ethnic groups and analyze and explore their potential effects on medication compliance and treatment satisfaction.
A cross-sectional, Web-based survey was administered to US females (25-45 years) with facial acne (≥25 visible lesions). Data collected included sociodemographics, self-reported clinical characteristics, acne treatment use, and treatment expectations and satisfaction.
Three hundred twelve subjects completed the survey (mean age, 35.3±5.9 years), comprising black (30.8%), Hispanic (17.6%), Asian/other (17.3%), and white (34.3%). More than half of the subjects in each racial group recently used an acne treatment or procedure (black, 63.5%; Hispanic, 54.5%; Asian/other, 66.7%; white, 66.4%). Treatment use was predominantly over-the-counter (OTC) (47.4%) versus prescription medications (16.6%). OTC use was highest in white subjects (black, 42.7%; Hispanic, 34.5%; Asian/other, 44.4%; white, 59.8%; P<0.05). The most frequently used OTC treatments in all racial/ethnic groups were salicylic acid (SA) (34.3%) and benzoyl peroxide (BP) (32.1%). Overall, compliance with acne medications was highest in white versus black (57.0±32.4 vs 42.7±33.5 days, P>0.05), Hispanic (57.0±32.4 vs 43.2±32.9 days, P>0.05), and Asian/other (57.0±32.4 vs 46.9±37.2 days, P>0.05) subjects. Most subjects expected OTC (73.7%) and prescription (74.7%) treatments to work quickly. Fewer than half of the subjects were satisfied with OTC treatment (BP, 47.0%; SA, 43.0%), often due to skin dryness (BP, 26.3%; SA, 44.3%) and flakiness (BP, 12.3%; SA, 31.1%). No statistically significant differences were observed among racial/ethnic groups in their level of satisfaction with OTC or prescription acne treatments.
Racial/ethnic differences were observed in acne treatment patterns in adult females, while treatment expectations were similar. Results indicate that treatment patterns and expectations may impact treatment satisfaction and medication compliance.
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