Comparison of knowledge, attitude, and practice of physicians and pharmacists about migraine management

Abstract

Migraine is a complicated genetically influenced disorder characterized by episodes of moderate-to-severe headache. It has a prevalence rate of 10% per year worldwide and accounts for 7% of all neurological disorders worldwide. This prevalence is 6% among males and 18% among females. Despite the high prevalence of the illness, it is misdiagnosed and mistreated by healthcare professionals. Therefore, this study aimed to compare physicians' and pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding migraine management. This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in major public healthcare facilities and well-established community pharmacy chains in Lahore. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit participants. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed by calculating descriptive statistics and a chi-square test. The results showed that 61.67% of physicians were males and 60.00% of pharmacists were females with five years or less of working experience. Most healthcare professionals were well aware of the episode duration, definition of chronic migraine, and its types (physicians = 70.00%, 72.78%, 78.33%; pharmacists = 75.71%, 67.14%, 71.43%, respectively) and provided patients with information regarding migraine triggers, drugs causing migraine, side effects of drugs, and guidance to prevent side effects. Moreover, most healthcare providers considered prevention and acute treatments as a part of a broader approach to managing chronic migraine and considered prescribing preventive medicines at lower doses to minimize potential side effects. The knowledge of physicians and pharmacists was significantly different regarding migraine-associated symptoms, preference for nonpharmacological interventions to alleviate symptoms of chronic migraine, and consideration of prevention and acute treatments as part of the broader approaches to managing chronic migraine (p < 0.05). The study concluded that the physicians' and pharmacists' knowledge, attitudes, and practices were good. However, healthcare professionals' knowledge significantly differs regarding migraine-associated symptoms, preference for nonpharmacological interventions to alleviate symptoms of chronic migraine, and consideration of prevention and acute treatments as part of the broader approaches to managing chronic migraine.