Awareness, Knowledge, and Practice towards Medication Overuse Headache in Thailand: A University Hospital-Based Survey in a Residency Training Program

Abstract

Background:Medication Overuse Headache (MOH) represents a significant challenge in patient care, with physicians playing a vital role in its prevention and management. Nonetheless, awareness, knowledge, and practices concerning MOH among physicians are often found to be inadequate. Methods:A cross-sectional university-based hospital study was conducted to investigate awareness, knowledge, and practices related to MOH among resident doctors from family medicine, internal medicine, and neurology specialties. Participants were surveyed using an internet-based questionnaire. Results:70 out of 130 residents participated in this study. 10% of participants were unaware that analgesia could exacerbate headaches. 11.4% of participants were uncertain about the classification of MOH. 31.4% and 44.3% of participants were unsure about the frequency of simple analgesia and migraine-specific drug use leading to MOH, respectively. 22.9% of participants prescribed opioids for abortive treatment in migraine patients. Neurology residents performed better in many aspects compared with others. Conclusion:The findings highlight the need for improved MOH education across medical specialties to enhance patient care and reduce the healthcare burden of MOH.