Online portal for PCPs, patients effective for pediatric migraine treatment

An online portal designed specifically for identifying and managing pediatric migraine may lead to overall improvements in patient outcomes, according to data presented at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting.

“Pediatric migraine can become more frequent and disabling if not identified and treated early with evidence-based approaches,” the researchers wrote. “Education gaps in primary care, however, can result in delayed diagnosis and suboptimal or incorrect migraine management. Data from our region indicate that fewer than one in three youth with migraine are started on any medication.”

To improve migraine management in youth, the researchers, as part of the American Academy of Neurology Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum project, aggregated various evidence-based treatment recommendations into a single website containing resource pages for both patients and health care providers. School nurses serving a large local school district referred students with headache to the patient website, headachereliefguide.com, where they found “developmentally tailored education and management tools,” and information about how to make an appointment with a PCP.

PCPs serving the same school district were educated on how to use the website’s provider portal, which features a “headache action plan” that includes information on recommended medications and dosages, printable guides on suggested health behaviors and school accommodations, and a headache diary template. The researchers dubbed their effort the HAPPY Project.

According to the researchers, the proportion of patients within the school district with migraine receiving preventive medications has increased from 33% during the past 2 years, to 49% during the first 3 months of the project. The proportion in the untargeted school districts have remained unchanged. The researchers plan to continue data collection through the 2015-2016 school year.

“We developed the HAPPY project to promote early intervention in pediatric migraine management before the downward spiral of headache-related school disability begins,” Jennifer Bickel, MD, director of the Comprehensive Headache Clinic at Children’s Mercy Hospital, in Kansas City, Missouri, who presented the data, said in an interview. “Our project is geared towards empowering school nurses, PCPs and the families to take more control of headaches.” – by Jason Laday

Reference:

Bickel J, Connelly M. Toward improving migraine management in primary care: The HAPPY Project. Presented at American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting; April 15-21, 2016; Vancouver, British Columbia.

Disclosure: Bickel reports a grant from Pfizer.