EQ-5D™-derived utility values for different levels of migraine severity from a UK sample of migraineurs

• Published in: Health and quality of life outcomes Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 65
• Main Authors: Stafford, Megan R, Hareendran, Asha, Ng-Mak, Daisy S, Insinga, Ralph P, Xu, Ruifeng, Stull, Donald E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 12.06.2012; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis; Anxiety - complications; Anxiety - psychology; Care and treatment; Cognition Disorders - complications; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression - complications; Depression - psychology; Disability Evaluation; EQ-5D; Female; Health aspects; Health Status Indicators; Health utility; Humans; Male; Measurement; MIDAS; Middle Aged; Migraine; Migraine Disorders - diagnosis; Migraine Disorders - epidemiology; Migraine Disorders - therapy; Pain; Pain - complications; Pain - psychology; Pain Measurement; Pharmaceutical industry; Quality of life; Quality of Life - psychology; Reproducibility of Results; Retrospective Studies; Severity of Illness Index; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires - standards; United Kingdom - epidemiology; Vision Disorders - complications; United States; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 1477-7525; 1477-7525
• DOI: 10.1186/1477-7525-10-65

To estimate utility values for different levels of migraine pain severity from a United Kingdom (UK) sample of migraineurs. One hundred and six migraineurs completed the EQ-5D to evaluate their health status for mild, moderate and severe levels of migraine pain severity for a recent migraine attack, and for current health defined as health status within seven days post-migraine attack. Statistical tests were used to evaluate differences in mean utility scores by migraine severity. Utility scores for each health state were significantly different from 1.0 (no problems on any EQ-5D dimension) (p < 0.0001) and one another (p < 0.0001). The lowest mean utility, - 0.20 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.27 - -0.13), was for severe migraine pain. The smallest difference in mean utility was between mild and moderate migraine pain (0.13) and the largest difference in mean utility was between current health (without migraine) and severe migraine pain (1.07). Results indicate that all levels of migraine pain are associated with significantly reduced utility values. As severity worsened, utility decreased and severe migraine pain was considered a health state worse than death. Results can be used in cost-utility models examining the relative economic value of therapeutic strategies for migraine in the UK.