Patient-reported outcomes of migraine treatment with erenumab: results from a national patient survey

Background Despite development of new therapies, migraine remains an undertreated illness. It is important to understand patients' preferences and perceptions of using a certain therapy. We present data from a nationwide Lithuanian survey of patients' experience using erenumab for the treatment of high frequency episodic and chronic migraine. Methods An anonymous internet survey was distributed on February-March 2021 to the members of Migraine Association of Lithuania. All adult respondents who reported using at least one dose of erenumab were included in the study. Results Out of 145 respondents, 75.2% had chronic migraine, and 31.7% had medication overuse headache. Patients received an average of 6 (IQR 4-9) erenumab doses. 93.1% respondents found erenumab effective, and 72.6% experienced improvement during the first month. MHDs were reduced by 9.8 (SD 6.0) (P < 0.001), and MMDs by 7.2 (SD 5.2) days (P < 0.001). 78.6% respondents achieved >= 50% reduction and 47.6% achieved >= 75% reduction of MMDs. 13.8% patients indicated a wearing-off effect during the treatment course, and 37.8% - some wearing-off between injections. Constipation was the most frequent adverse event (32.6%). 47.2% of patients who had a positive erenumab effect and discontinued treatment experienced migraine rebound in 6 (SD 2.0) weeks. Conclusion Erenumab is perceived as an effective and safe treatment. Further studies are needed to investigate a post-cessation deterioration of achieved improvement.

Automated summary

Despite new therapies, migraine remains undertreated. This study investigates patients' experiences and preferences with erenumab for high frequency episodic and chronic migraine in Lithuania. Results showed that the majority of respondents found erenumab effective and experienced improvement within the first month. Erenumab significantly reduced migraine headache days and frequency, but some patients experienced wearing-off effects during treatment and migraine rebound after discontinuation. Constipation was the most common adverse event. Further research is needed to explore post-cessation deterioration of treatment effect.