Introduction: This retrospective observational analysis evaluated the clinical, demographic, and economic burdenof migraine patients in real-world Italian clinical practice.Methods: A retrospective observational analysis was conducted using Italian administrative databases, involvingapproximately 12 million beneficiaries. All adult patients with at least one hospital discharge diagnosis ofmigraine (ICD-9-CM = 346) or at least one prescription for migraine-specific medications (ATC = N02C) betweenJanuary 2010 and July 2024 were included. The index-date was defined as the first occurrence of either inclusioncriterion. Patients were characterized at baseline for demographic variables and comorbidity profile. Directhealthcare costs covered by the National Health Service (SSN) were estimated per patient for the 12 monthspre- and post-index-date. An exploratory analysis of total direct healthcare costs was performed, including bothmigraine-specific and potentially migraine-related costs, over three-time horizons (12, 36, and 60 months beforethe index-date). Analyses were stratified by sex.Results: A total of 185,737 patients were included; 72.1% were female, with a mean age of 47 years. Of thepatients, 75.3% had no relevant comorbidities (Charlson Comorbidity Index = 0). The total healthcare costs perpatient were estimated at € 898 and € 1,179 in the 12 months before and after the index-date, respectively. Hospitalizationand outpatient service costs potentially related to migraine were approximately ten times higher thanmigraine-specific costs.Conclusions: Migraine imposes a significant economic burden, particularly among the female population. Exploratoryanalyses revealed that potentially migraine-related costs were higher than migraine-specific costs, suggestinga delay in diagnosis and appropriate management.
Perrone et al. (Fri,) studied this question.