Using pretreatment quality of life perceptions to predict response to sumatriptan in migraineurs

Quality of life perceptions vary for individuals with similar medical conditions and reflect disease impact. When correlated with subsequent response to treatment, such data may contribute useful insights in understanding the determinants of therapeutic effectiveness in selected medical conditions. Two hundred thirty-five migraine patients never previously treated with injectable sumatriptan completed a Short Form-36 questionnaire before receiving a supervised test dose and a prescription for the medication. Medical records were examined to determine the number of comorbid conditions, headache characteristics (age at onset, headache frequency, duration of disease, aura, association with menses, unilaterality, and emesis), and documentation of sumatriptan's effect in relieving migraine during 12 months of follow-up. Logistic regression was used to identify patient- and disease-specific features most closely associated with the dependent variable, clinical response. One hundred eighty-four patients (78%) reported both relief of symptoms and continued usage of sumatriptan. Patients who experienced emesis with headaches (OR = 2.05 [1.07, 3.91]) and those with higher pretreatment Physical Functioning scores (OR = 3.27 [1.28, 8.37]) were more likely to respond to sumatriptan. Response to sumatriptan therapy was associated with specific pretreatment quality of life domains and headache features. These results may be useful in improving the efficiency of disease management strategies for patients with migraine.