Physicians’ Communication With Migraine Patients

At last some research which investigates whether patients’ questions are being adequately heard.

The authors looked at the most commonly asked question “What causes migraine?” and asked 30 neurologists and migraine specialists for their explanations. Four were selected and edited and then given to 100 migraine sufferers.

The neurologists rated the importance of “It is important to provide patients explanations of what causes migraine?” at 4.3 (5= strongly agree); the patients rated “How important is it for physician to provide you with an explanation of what causes migraine?” as 4.7 (5=strongly agree).

Of the explanations put to the patients, most (56) preferred the longest (245 words) and the least (4) choosing the shortest (25 words).

These responses confirm that an understanding of the migraine process is important and that a detailed response is what is preferred.

Unfortunately what is being demonstrated through research is not being explained in the clinical situation – to you the headache or migraine sufferer; my goal is to relate the latest research findings in non medical terms, what they mean … and in a balanced way.

Knowledge is self-empowering – armed with knowledge you are then in a position to make well-informed decisions.

Cheers

Dean

(Randolph W. Evans, MD; Rochelle E. Evans, MA .What Causes Migraine: Which Physician Explanation Do Patients Prefer and Understand? Headache 2009;49:1536-1540)

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