Quantifying migraine burden and frequency in day-to-day life

Challenge

• The prevalence and burden of headache disorders in real-world settings is relatively unstudied, leading to underdiagnosis and condition management challenges.
• The goal was to explore the associations between passively collected activity data, headache burden, and quality of life to:
  • Elucidate new insights into headache self-management practices and treatment decisions
  • Inform approaches for pain management
  • Identify individuals who might be eligible for clinical trials

Approach

• Evidation enrolled 509 eligible US-based participants, all of whom were headache sufferers ≥ 18 years and self-reported experiencing 5-14 days with headache per month on average
• The team collected data from wearable activity tracking devices and daily short surveys over 12 weeks, allowing study participants to contribute in an unobtrusive and less burdensome manner
  • Compliance was high; on average, participants responded to 64 of 84 possible daily surveys and reported 9,646 headache days in total
  • 408 individuals met criteria for “dense” activity, defined as having no periods where they did not wear their Fitbit for 7 consecutive days or more
  • Participants contributed over 25,000 days of step and sleep data, demonstrating regular wear-time during the study
• Variables were analyzed using a series of mixed-effects models and stratified based on headache type
• Evidation used multiple linear and logistic regressions to analyze treatment preferences

Results

• Evidation found that days with headaches were typically associated with increased sleep, reduced physical activity, and lower maximum heart rate
• Migraineurs experienced greater burden in everyday life compared with tension-type headache sufferers
• The findings in this study provide preliminary evidence that activity trackers, such as those found in wearable devices, are useful tools when quantifying headache burden among individuals with frequent headaches in real-world settings

Figures sourced from SpringerLink. Read the full study here.

To learn how Evidation engages individuals in order to characterize and quantify disease progression, treatment experience, and quality of life, connect with a member of our commercial team.