Adverse effects are an important factor in migraine management, and concern about adverse effects significantly affected patient compliance.

This study seeks to define the types of headache and the sex and age distribution, of headache patients aged 65 and older. A computer search was performed of outpatients with a diagnosis of headache or temporal arteritis seen during 1988 at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Of over 120,000 outpatients treated at the clinic 9,950 had a diagnosis of headache; of these, 359 were 65 or older. We found that, compared with younger patients, older headache patients had more tension headache and less migraine headache. In our population, temporal arteritis occurred with the same frequency as migraine, and in patients with a similar demographic profile.

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The authors report a survey of 281 migraineurs recently referred to headache specialists by primary care physicians. Compared with care before referral, specialists spent substantially more time with patients and were more likely to ask patients to take a prophylactic drug and to keep a headache diary, to discuss migraine triggers, and to prescribe 5-hydroxytryptamine1B/1D agonists (triptans). After referral, patients reported improved satisfaction with care and significant decreases in frequency, duration, and severity of attacks.

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