Announcer:
This is ReachMD. Welcome to this special series, Rethinking Migraine, sponsored by Lilly.On this episode, titled How to Assess a Patient’s Quality of Life, we will hear from Dr. Nada Hindiyeh, Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurology & Neurological Sciences at Stanford School of Medicine.
Dr. Hindiyeh:
So , based on the Global Burden of Disease Study in 2013, migraine is the 6th highest cause of disability worldwide, it’s the 4th leading cause of disability in women worldwide, and it’s the 3rd leading cause of disability in people under the age of 50, so this data illustrates that migraine is more than just a bad headache and can significantly impact a person’s quality of life. So it’s important to keep in mind more than just the frequency of headache days when assessing a patient’s quality of life and disability from migraine. So , for instance, when you look at the phases of a migraine, you can see that although the headache portion may only last 4 to 72 hours, the prodrome may last hours to several days, and the postdrome can last up to 48 hours as well. These symptoms, such as poor concentration, depressed mood, light sensitivity and nausea can often times be just as disabling as the pain itself. And the whole migraine attack can last several days, so it’s important to get a sense of how many days of the month the patient feels at their normal baseline, because even if they’re not having a headache, they may still be impacted by other migraine features.So there are many ways to assess quality of life in migraine patients. Most importantly, you have to just ask: “How has migraine impacted your life?” And if you want a more systematic way of assessing quality of life, there are many questionnaires designed as guidelines, so having your patient take an assessment regularly can help you gauge how migraine impact has changed over time for a patient. So the Migraine Disability Assessment Test, or the MIDAS, the Headache Impact Test, or the HIT-6, and the Migraine Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire, or the MSQ, are some examples. So understanding the impact of migraine on a patient’s quality of life can change the way you communicate with your patients and the way you address migraine management.
Announcer:
The preceding program was sponsored by Lilly. Content for this series is produced and controlled by ReachMD. This series is intended for healthcare professionals only. To revisit any part of this discussion and to access other episodes in this series, visit ReachMD.com/RethinkingMigraine. Thank you for listening. This is ReachMD. Be Part of the Knowledge.
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