Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32138526›Full record

ArticleCephalalgia : an international journal of headache2020

Acute treatment patterns in patients with migraine newly initiating a triptan.

Richard B Lipton, Steven C Marcus, Anand R Shewale, David W Dodick, Hema N Viswanathan, Jalpa A Doshi

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Observational
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  12. A potentially lethal interaction: Migraine, human immunodeficiency virus and ergotism - A primary care case report.Malaysian family physician : the official journal of the Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia · 2025
    Article
  13. Article
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  15. Acute treatment of migraine: quantifying the unmet need through real-world data in Italy.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024
    Article
  16. The Role of Step Therapy in the Treatment of Migraine.Current pain and headache reports · 2023
    Review
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  18. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Richard B LiptonMontefiore Headache Center, Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA.
Steven C MarcusUniversity of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Anand R ShewaleAllergan plc, Irvine, CA, USA.
David W DodickMayo Clinic Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ, USA.
Hema N ViswanathanAllergan plc, Irvine, CA, USA.
Jalpa A DoshiUniversity of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Allergan (United States) · USUniversity of Pennsylvania · USAlbert Einstein College of Medicine · USMayo Clinic in Arizona · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTriptans are the most commonly used acute treatment for migraine. This study evaluated real-world treatment patterns following an initial triptan prescription to understand refill rates and use of non-triptan medications for the acute treatment of migraine.

methodsCommercially-insured adult patients over 18 years of age with a triptan prescription between 1/1/2013 to 31/12/2013 were identified from the Optum Clinformatics™ Data Mart database, with date of the first triptan fill designated as index date. Inclusion was limited to those with no fills for a triptan in the 12 months prior to index date (i.e. new users or initiators of triptans) and continuous enrollment in the 12 months pre- and 24 months post-index date. Fills for index triptan, non-index triptan, and other acute treatments for migraine were assessed for up to 24 months post-index.

resultsAmong 10,509 patients, 50.8% did not refill the initial triptan within 12 months and 43.6% did not refill within 24 months. In the 12 months post-index, 90.5% of patients used only one type of triptan, 8.4% used two different triptans, and 1.0% used three or more triptans. Among patients with and without a triptan refill, use of opioids (39% vs. 42%), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (22% vs. 22%), and butalbital-containing products (9% vs. 10%) were similar.

conclusionMore than half of those who newly initiated a triptan did not refill their initial prescription, and less than 1 in 10 used two or more triptans within 12 months. High rates of non-triptan acute medication use were found over 12 and 24 months of follow-up, most commonly opioids.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedAnalgesicsCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedMigraine DisordersRetrospective StudiesTryptaminesYoung AdultAnalgesicsTryptaminesclaims datamigraine medicationrefill patternsTriptan persistency

Identifiers

PMID32138526
PMCPMC7160749
OpenAlexW3009253325

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.