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Informational sessions ‘effective’ way to introduce patients to new migraine medications
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PHILADELPHIA — A 1-hour informational session was an “effective and efficient way” to educate patients about the newly FDA-approved calcitonin gene related peptide medications for migraine prevention, according to data presented at the American Headache Society Annual Scientific Meeting.
“While providers recognize the importance of discussing these new treatment options in depth, limited clinical time may lead to patient and provider frustration and increase the risk of burnout, which is already high among headache specialists,” Rebecca Wells MD, MHS, and assistant professor of neurology at Wake Forest School of Medicine and colleagues wrote.
“Patient education is essential for the CGRP medications since the monthly injections have a long half-life (e.g., several months) and long-term efficacy and side effects are uncertain,” they continued.
Researchers conducted three 1-hour group informational sessions that were conducted by a certified headache medicine specialist and a clinical pharmacist about the injectable CGRP treatment options — Aimovig, Ajovy and Emgality — that the FDA approved last year.
In total, 41 patients with high headache burden and had already tried multiple treatment options learned about each drug’s pathophysiology, potential benefits and risks of taking them during pregnancy and proper injection technique. The sessions also discussed cost, insurance coverage and pharmacy plan benefits. Patients completed surveys before and after the program to assess content’s helpfulness.
Researchers found that participants’ confidence in comprehending what calcitonin gene related peptide meant before the session vs. after it increased from 67.5% to 95% and comfort in medication administration increased from 85% to 97.5%.
In addition, 88% thought the session helped in their decision making about the treatments, 95% thought it was “more helpful than expected,” 98% thought the content was clear and would recommend it to friend or family with migraine who wanted to learn more about CGRP, and 100% of participants reported a better comprehension of migraine preventive options and expected to adhere to their treatment choice.
However, plans to initiate CGRP treatment remained relatively unchanged after the session.
“The 1-hour informational session was an effective and efficient way to educate patients about the new CGRP medications,” Wells and colleagues wrote.
“With the multitude of new headache treatments reaching the market, offering non-biased, provider-led group educational sessions may also help reduce provider burden by removing more detailed discussions from time-limited clinic visits,” researchers wrote.
They added that future research could concentrate on whether such sessions decreased provider burnout and/or enhanced patient adherence and treatment response. – by Janel Miller
Reference: Wells R, et al. The experience of one headache center’s launch of the new CGRP migraine medications. Presented at: American Headache Society Annual Scientific Meeting; July 11-14, 2019; Philadelphia.
Disclosures : Healio Primary Care was unable to determine the authors’ relevant financial disclosures prior to publication.