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Headache tool’s value may extend to migraine
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PHILADELPHIA — The Headache Impact Test, or HIT-6, may be an appropriate tool to assess migraine, the results of a systematic review presented at the American Headache Society Annual Scientific Meeting suggested.
“As the HIT-6 was not specifically developed to assess outcomes in patients with migraine, its relevance in this population has been an ongoing topic of discussion,” researchers wrote in an abstract.
She reviewed 12 articles consisting of 283 patients — 214 with migraine — to determine if extending HIT-6’s use to migraine was feasible.
Emery found that the tool’s criteria “had substantial qualitative evidence” that bolstered the relationship of that criteria to patients with migraine. She also found that patients comprehended the HIT-6 instructions, items and response scales as the tool’s authors intended them.
“This analysis provides support that HIT-6 questions measure important and relevant constructs of impact in patients with migraine,” she wrote.
Emery also used data from a trial of 1,024 patients with chronic migraine and previously published literature to supply clinicians and patients with a baseline of “meaningful change” specific to using HIT-6 in patients with that condition. She found that while the trial data used ranges of –2.2 to –10.8, the literature used ranges from –2.5 to –8.
She wrote that based on triangulation, “a decrease of 6 points or more appears most appropriate for discriminating between patients with chronic migraine who have experienced a meaningful decrease in the HIT-6 total score over time and those who have not.”
“This definition may assist health care professionals in quantifying treatment effects and determining treatment needs for patients,” Emery added. – by Janel Miller
References :
Content validity of the HIT-6 in migraine patients: results of a systematic literature review. Submission ID: 672675
Chronic migraine: Establishing a responder definition for the HIT-6 total score. Submisston ID: 672804
Presented at: American Headache Society Annual Scientific Meeting; July 11-14, 2019; Philadelphia.
Disclosures: Healio Primary Care was unable to determine Emery’s relevant financial disclosures prior to publication.