Effectiveness of eptinezumab unaffected by psychiatric comorbidities in chronic migraine

Key takeaways:

• Sixty-five percent of participants with chronic migraine self-reported psychiatric conditions.
• More than half reported higher satisfaction with daily living and well-being after starting eptinezumab.

DENVER — For those experiencing chronic migraine, the presence of self-reported psychiatric conditions did not affect the effectiveness of eptinezumab, according to a poster at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting.

“It may be of value to understand better if a particular migraine treatment is likely to help somebody with migraine who has a psychiatric comorbidity compared to one who does not,” Charles Argoff, MD, professor of neurology and director of the comprehensive pain program at Albany Medical Center, said during his presentation.

Argoff and colleagues aimed to evaluate whether the presence of psychiatric conditions affected real-world effectiveness of eptinezumab among patients with chronic migraine.

They conducted the observational REVIEW study at four tertiary U.S. headache centers and analyzed the real-world experiences of 94 outpatients (mean age, 49 years; mean diagnosis duration, 15.4 years; 83% women) and four treating investigators. The study consisted of a chart review, patient survey and health care provider interview.

Eligible participants had to be at least 18 years old, with a diagnosis of chronic migraine and completion of at least two consecutive infusion cycles of eptinezumab. Survey data included diagnosis of a psychiatric condition, self-reported number of “good” or “bad” days per month and satisfaction with daily living and well-being since starting treatment.

Researchers conducted a subgroup analysis of “good” days per month related to the presence of psychiatric comorbidities.

According to results, 65% of participants self-reported a psychiatric condition, which included anxiety (50%), depression (48%), bipolar disorder (3%) and other (4%).

Patients reported a mean of 8 “good” days per month prior to eptinezumab treatment, which increased to 18 after treatment. Perception of efficacy was similar regardless of the presence or absence of psychiatric conditions.

Data additionally showed that more than 60% of patients reported higher or much higher satisfaction with various elements of daily living after eptinezumab treatment, with 57% of respondents reporting higher overall confidence in well-being after starting treatment. Conversely, more than 50% of patients reported energy levels, sleep quality, and anxiety or stress levels stayed about the same.

“Based upon a real-world setting, independent of the presence or absence of psychiatric comorbidity, [eptinezumab] helped similarly,” Argoff told Healio.