rome and Migraine-Disorders

Migraine headache is the cause of an estimated 250,000,000 lost days from work or school every year and is often associated with decreased work productivity. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the relationship between perceived disability, job satisfaction and work productivity in patients affected by chronic migraineurs. Participants were 98 consecutive adult outpatients admitted to the Regional Referral Headache Centre of the Sant'Andrea Hospital in Rome, Italy. Patients were administered the Italian Perceived Disability Scale, The Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire-Work Subscale and The Endicott Work Productivity Scale. Perceived disability is significantly associated with job satisfaction and work productivity. Job satisfaction is significantly related to work productivity and mediates the association between perceived disability and work productivity in patients affected by chronic migraineurs. Our results confirm that patients suffering from migraine headaches who have negative perceptions of their disability are less satisfied with their job, which in turn, decreases their work productivity.

Topics: Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Disability Evaluation; Disabled Persons; Efficiency; Female; Humans; Job Satisfaction; Male; Middle Aged; Migraine Disorders; Personal Satisfaction; Quality of Life; Rome

In 2003, we conducted a sensitisation campaign on migraine in the Casilino district of Rome, by sending a letter with the ID Migraine test to all the households and placing posters in the GPs' waiting room. Out of 195 headache patients recruited, 92% had migraine while 73% had never consulted a physician for headache. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term impact of this campaign. The follow-up was performed by a telephone interview. The questionnaire considered the characteristics of headache, quality of life, preventive and acute treatments, drug efficacy, comorbidity and subjective usefulness of the campaign. Of the 179 migraineurs, 90.5% (mean age 40.7 +/- 16.5, 139 females) were included in the follow-up. An improvement was observed in mean pain intensity (-13.9%; p < 0.0001) and mean HIT-6 score (-6.1%; p = 0.0003). The campaign was considered to be useful by 63.6% of cases, while 66.1% reported an improvement in their clinical status. Improved patients showed a decreased mean number of days with headache per month (-51.7%; p < 0.0001), pain intensity (-21.8%; p < 0.0001), headache duration (-18.1%; p = 0.0008)and HIT-6 score (-11.7%; p < 0.0001). Our data suggest that the effects of a "single shot" campaign are beneficial not only in a short-term perspective, but even in the longterm. Moreover, the lack of benefit in more severe cases suggests that such patients should not be treated by GPs alone: patients in whom the HIT-6 score, frequency,severity or duration of headache worsen should be promptly referred to the headache clinic.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Community-Institutional Relations; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Health Care Surveys; Health Services Accessibility; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Male; Middle Aged; Migraine Disorders; Outcome Assessment, Health Care; Pain Clinics; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Patient Education as Topic; Quality Assurance, Health Care; Quality of Life; Referral and Consultation; Rome; Specialization; Surveys and Questionnaires; Time; Treatment Outcome

A striking feature of migraine is the difference between the estimated migraine prevalence and the actual number of migraineurs consulting their general practitioners (GPs). We investigated the impact of a sensitisation campaign on migraine in a large cohort of patients, living in a district of Rome. The study involved 10 GPs and a population of about 12 000 people, contacted by mail and posters located in GP clinics. Both the letter and poster stressed the impact of headache on quality of life and included the Italian version of the three-item Identification of Migraine (ID Migraine) screening test, consisting of questions on disability, nausea and photophobia. If the subjects suffered from headaches, they were invited to contact their GPs for a visit and a free consultation with a headache expert. By means of this sensitisation campaign, 195 headache patients consulted their GPs. Ninety-two percent of them (n=179) were migraineurs; 73% of them had never consulted a physician for headache. The ID Migraine test had a sensitivity of 0.92 (95% CI 0.86-0.95), a specificity of 0.75 (95% CI 0.47-0.91) and a positive predictive value (PPV) of 0.97 (95% CI 0.93-0.99) for a clinical diagnosis of migraine, according to the International Headache Society (IHS) criteria. This study confirms that a large number of migraine patients never see a doctor for their headache. This awareness campaign is likely to identify the severest cases of undiagnosed migraineurs. However, mailing campaigns do not seem to be so effective in bringing undiagnosed migraine patients into the primary care setting, and more efficient strategies have to be planned.

Topics: Access to Information; Adult; Cohort Studies; Community-Institutional Relations; Female; Health Care Surveys; Health Services Accessibility; Humans; Male; Mass Screening; Middle Aged; Migraine Disorders; Pain Clinics; Pain Measurement; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Patient Education as Topic; Physicians, Family; Predictive Value of Tests; Quality of Health Care; Quality of Life; Referral and Consultation; Rome

Have headaches influenced the course of history? It is very difficult to prove, but there is no doubt that head pains have affected some of the most influential people in history. This review explores how headaches have affected some of the world's most famous people.

Topics: Epilepsy; Famous Persons; Government; Headache; History, 18th Century; History, 19th Century; History, Ancient; Humans; Migraine Disorders; Military Personnel; Personality; Philosophy; Rome; United States

The first descriptions of migraine can be traced back nearly 4,000 years from the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia (Sumeria and Babylonia) through Egyptian, Greek and Roman epochs. Through Byzantine, Arabic and Medieval times there are only patchy references until the 17th century, when European physicians first gave full case reports.

Topics: Byzantium; Egypt; Greece; History, Ancient; History, Medieval; Humans; Migraine Disorders; Rome

Topics: England; France; Greece; History, 17th Century; History, 18th Century; History, 19th Century; History, 20th Century; History, Ancient; Migraine Disorders; Rome