The importance of assessing the impact of headache on patients’ daily lives
This project produced guidelines for the use of impact tools in clinical practice. Migraine is a remarkably impacting condition, although unpredictable and heterogeneous in frequency, duration and severity. This can lead to difficulties in managing migraine in primary care, where it can be under-recognised, under-diagnosed and under-treated. Assessing migraine impact has been shown to be an effective way of measuring the patient’s management needs. It also has a role in diagnosis, as patients with episodic, impacting headache most often have migraine. Two simple and brief impact tools are now available; the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) Questionnaire and the Headache Impact Test (HIT). Both tools exhibit scientific validity and clinical utility. Impact tools are also being increasingly recommended as part of generalised headache management guidelines to produce an individualised treatment plan for each patient.
NL8_GP_Guidelines_2ndEdReference
Dowson AJ. Assessing the impact of migraine. Curr Med Res Opin 2001;17:298–309.
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Headache_ImpactLinks
- MIDAS website: www.migraine-disability.net
- HIT websites: www.amIhealthy.com; www.headachetest.com