Understanding the importance of patient preference for optimal migraine treatment

This study assessed patients’ preferences for the characteristics of an ideal migraine treatment through an online discrete choice survey.
Of 604 individuals with migraine from the United States, factors considered most important in migraine treatment were mode of administration (28.8%), durability of effectiveness (27.0%), and speed of onset (25.5%). In contrast, the least favored were administration setting (9.9%) and dosing frequency (8.8%). The overall migraine population were delineated by their preferences, i.e., 21% desired self-injection administration and durability of effectiveness; 31% indicated aversion to cranial injections; 26% selected rapid speed of onset; and 21% chose health-care provider administration and durability of effectiveness.
The authors conclude that patient preferences for migraine treatment is not only important for making the right medication choices, but to also inform the drug development process.