Disability in migraine patients: Italian experience

Migraine is associated withfunctional impairment. The migrainedisability assessment (MIDAS) scaleis a scientific instrument which capturesheadache–related disability. TheItalian version of MIDAS was developedthrough a multi–step standardizedmethodology. Studies on Italianclinical samples showed thatmigraine patients were disabled in allactivity domains. Non–work activitieswere more affected than work activities.Among patients in paid work,most continued working with aheadache attack, although productivitywas significantly reduced. TheItalian MIDAS was used also inpatients with transformed migraineand drug overuse. These patientswere markedly disabled. MIDASscores were higher than those foundin migraine patients. When disabilitywas assessed after 6 months fromwithdrawal therapy, MIDAS scoreswere significantly lower than at baseline.Our results confirmed the negativeimpact of the lives of headachepatients, and suggest the use ofMIDAS as a sensitive outcome measurefor monitoring patients’progress.