Patients with migraine prioritize treatment benefits that align with current clinical outcomes used in
migraine research but also place importance on benefits that are not generally examined in such research,
such as predictability, according to a study published in Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain that
used qualitative interviews with patients with migraine to assess treatment priorities in this patient
population. Dawn Buse, PhD, and colleagues interviewed 40 participants with migraine and found that either
pain relief or lack of pain was a top priority for acute migraine treatment. Patients also prioritized
relief/absence of other migraine symptoms as well as improvements in functioning. For preventive treatment,
respondents prioritized decreases in frequency, symptom severity,and duration. Rankings were impacted by
previous expectations and experiences related to treatment,“which caused many participants to deprioritize
desired benefits as unrealistic.” Interviewees noted several other priorities, including reduced side effects
and reliable efficacy in both acute and preventive treatment.
