Patient‐reported experiences with migraine‐related cognitive symptoms: Results of the MiCOAS qualitative study

Abstract

Objectives:To capture patients' perspectives on migraine-related cognitive symptoms during pre-headache, headache, post-headache, and interictal periods.Background: Migraine-related cognitive symptoms are reported by people with migraine both during and between attacks. Associated with disability, they are increasingly viewed as a priority target for treatment. The Migraine Clinical Outcome Assessment System (MiCOAS) project is focused on developing a patient-centered core set of outcome measures for the evaluation of migraine treatments. The project focuses on incorporating the experience of people living with migraine and the outcomes most meaningful to them. This includes an examination of the presence and functional impact of migrainerelated cognitive symptoms and their perceived impact on quality of life and disability.Methods: Forty individuals with self-reported medically diagnosed migraine were recruited via iterative purposeful sampling for semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted using audio-only web conferencing. Thematic content analysis was performed to identify key concepts around migraine-related cognitive symptoms.Recruitment continued until concept saturation was achieved.Results: Participants described symptoms consistent with migraine-related deficits in language/speech, sustained attention, executive function, and memory that manifest during pre-headache (36/40 [90%] reported ≥1 cognitive feature), headache (35/40 [88%] reported ≥1 cognitive feature), post-headache (27/40 [68%] reported ≥1 cognitive feature), and interictal periods (13/40 [33%] reported ≥1 cognitive feature). Among participants reporting cognitive symptoms during pre-headache, 32/40 (81%) endorsed 2-5 cognitive symptoms. Findings were similar during the headache phase. Participants reported language/speech problems consistent with, for example, impairments in receptive language, expressive language, and articulation. Issues with sustained attention included fogginess, confusion/disorientation, and trouble with concentration/focus. Deficits in executive function included difficulty processing How to cite this article: Gerstein MT, Wirth RJ, Uzumcu AA, et al. Patient-reported experiences with migraine-related cognitive symptoms: Results of the MiCOAS qualitative study.

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“…This paper reports the primary analysis of data from both studies. Some findings from Study 1 related to cognition and perspectives on treatment benefits have been previously published 19,20 …”

“…Some findings from Study 1 related to cognition and perspectives on treatment benefits have been previously published. 19,20…”

Improving the Cognitive Impact of Migraine: A Real-World Study on the Ability to Concentrate

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