Effect of operationalized computer diagnosis on the therapeutic results of sumatriptan in general practice

A multicenter test was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the selective serotonin agonist sumatriptan in patients with the computerized headache diagnosis of migraine. A computer program was used for diagnostic evaluation of patients attending a general practice because of headache. The results of the analysis were taken as a direct decision on therapy. If the patients satisfied the criteria for migraine, they were given subcutaneous sumatriptan for treating three migraine attacks. The patients were able to use the study medication under outpatient conditions. The therapeutic efficacy of the medicine was recorded in a headache diary. A total of 91 patients were included in the study at 22 practices in Germany. An average of four patients per practice were recruited. In the first migraine attack treated, headache improvement was experienced by 77.7% of the patients treated. In the second and third attacks an improvement was experienced by 93.5% and 89.8%, respectively. The results show that by optimizing diagnostic reliability with the aid of the computer program a high response rate can be achieved under practice conditions using the selective serotonin agonist sumatriptan. Since the computer program described permits a specific diagnosis, it improves the prospects of effective headache therapy in the individual patient. Thus treatment based on this approach can reduce inputs of time and money in migraine therapy.