Postmarketing migraine survey of frovatriptan: effectiveness and tolerability vs previous triptans, NSAIDs or a...

Compare the effectiveness and tolerability of current therapy with frovatriptan 2.5-mg tablets (in 1-3 migraines) in patients with migraine previously using other triptans, analgesics/nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), or triptans and NSAIDs (T+NSAIDs).

Subanalysis of a postmarketing survey study in patients with migraine managed at primary care facilities in Germany.

A total of 5025 patients rated the effectiveness and tolerability of previous therapy (triptans; T+NSAIDs; NSAIDs) and current therapy with frovatriptan; physicians rated only frovatriptan effectiveness and tolerability (1 = Very Good, 2 = Good, 3 = Satisfactory, 4 = Poor).

Of 7107 patients initially surveyed, 5025 were identified for this subanalysis as previously using NSAIDs (n = 2890), triptans (n = 1418) or T + NSAIDs (n = 717). The mean (SD) age was 42.3 (11.9) years. At baseline, patients who previously used NSAIDs reported significantly fewer migraines per month, lower migraine severity, shorter migraine duration, and poorer ratings for effectiveness and tolerability versus responses from patients previously using triptans or T + NSAIDs (P < 0. 001 for each). Patient effectiveness ratings of Very Good or Good for previous therapy occurred in 49% (n = 691 of 1411) of patients using triptans, 27% (n = 195 of 716) of patients using T + NSAIDs, and 11% (n = 303 of 2866) of patients using NSAIDs (P < 0.04 between each group). Most patients rated current therapy with frovatriptan as Very Good or Good for effectiveness (86%, triptans; 83%, T + NSAIDs; 94%, NSAIDs) and tolerability (95%; 95%; 97%). Most physicians rated frovatriptan as Very Good or Good for effectiveness (87%; 86%; 95%) and tolerability (96%; 96%; 98%). Within-patient comparisons confirmed that frovatriptan had improved effectiveness (P < 0.001) and tolerability ratings (P < 0.001) in all three groups versus previous therapies.

Intrapatient comparisons showed that most patients with migraine reported significantly improved effectiveness and tolerability ratings with frovatriptan versus previous acute therapies.