A multinational investigation of the impact of subcutaneous sumatriptan. IV: Patient satisfaction

This report describes the patient satisfaction results from a prospective, sequential, multinational study. The study was conducted to concurrently evaluate the effects of sumatriptan, compared with customary therapy, on clinical parameters, health-related quality of life, productivity and patient satisfaction in adult patients with moderate to severe migraine. Patients treated migraine attacks for 12 weeks with their customary therapy, followed by 24 weeks' treatment with subcutaneous sumatriptan 6 mg. A questionnaire was conducted at the end of each study phase, or retrospectively at the end of the study, to assess patient satisfaction with customary therapy and sumatriptan. Sumatriptan was considered by most patients (67 to 85%) to be dependable and fast-acting, and to have a long duration of effect, allowing a quick return to normal activities. By comparison, 15 to 32% of patients considered that their customary therapy possessed the same attributes. However, customary therapy was considered to be easy/very easy to use by 82% of patients compared with 62% for subcutaneous sumatriptan. 89% of patients indicated that they would use sumatriptan again in the future. This study demonstrates that treatment of migraine attacks with subcutaneous sumatriptan for 24 weeks is associated with greater patient satisfaction as regards specific drug attributes than customary therapy.