Study Evaluates Stigma of High-Frequency Headache/Migraine with Acute Medication Overdose as a Factor of Age, Gender, Employment Status, and Race/Ethnicity
Stigma associated with high-frequency headache/migraine with acute medication overdose (HFM+AMO) is more prevalent in employed, non-Hispanic Black male patients aged 18-49 years, according to a new study presented at the 65th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Headache Society (AHS).
The study consisted of a non-interventional, national, cross-sectional online survey from the Harris Poll Migraine Report Card Survey. The 550 eligible US participants were adults with migraine classified as current or previous HFM+AMO. The researchers evaluated the participants’ self-reported stigma experiences using the 8-item Stigma Scale for Chronic Illnesses (SSCI-8). Data were weighted to relevant demographic features of the US population and analyzed statistically by standard deviation from mean. Current HFM+AMO was more prevalent than previous HFM+AMO (47% vs 21%). The most reported stigma experience was feeling left out of things (46% of current patients, 26% of previous patients). Stigma levels were higher in men vs women (P=.1), in participants aged 18-49 years vs those aged at least 50 years or older (P<.05), and in employed vs unemployed participants (P<.05). Though SSCI-8 scores were similar across race/ethnicity groups, Black participants were significantly more likely than White participants at the 90% confidence level (P=.1) to report feeling embarrassed due to physical limitations (51% vs 35%), feeling embarrassed about their illness (48% vs 32%), and feeling that others were unkind to them because of their illness (30% vs 17%).
Stigma is a critical obstacle for the treatment of headache and migraine because it can cause patients to second guess their symptoms and experiences. It also can result in patients being unable or unwilling to be absent from work, experiencing health discrimination, and losing social relationships. The study authors, including Dawn C. Buse, Roger Cady Amaal J. Starling, Meghan Buzby, Kevin Lenaburg, Steven Kymes, note that the reduction of stigma calls for novel innovative adjustments within healthcare and society.