Insights into real-world treatment of cluster headache through a large Italian database: prevalence, prescription patterns, and costs

Study type

• Study topic:
  Disease /health condition
• Study type:
  Non-interventional study
• Scope of the study:
  Disease epidemiology

  Healthcare resource utilisation
• Data collection methods:
  Secondary use of data

Non-interventional study

• Non-interventional study design:
  Cohort

  Cross-sectional

Study drug and medical condition

• Medical condition to be studied:
  Cluster headache

Population studied

• Short description of the study population:
  Adult patients affected by Cluster headache and treated with specific drugs for acute attack associated with a preventive therapy were selected.
• Age groups:
  • Adult and elderly population (≥18 years)

    • Adults (18 to < 65 years)

      • Adults (18 to < 46 years)
      • Adults (46 to < 65 years)
    • Elderly (≥ 65 years)

      • Adults (65 to < 75 years)
      • Adults (75 to < 85 years)
      • Adults (85 years and over)

Study design details

• Study design:
  Retrospective longitudinal cross sectional cohort study.
• Main study objective:
  This study aimed at estimating the treated cluster headache (CH) prevalence and describing prescription patterns and direct costs paid by the Italian National-Health-System.
• Setting:
  In-hospital and local outpatient settings in public and affiliated with SSN facilities.
• Summary results:
  The annual prevalence of CH-treated patients increased from 6.4×100,000 adults in 2013 to 6.7 in 2017. In 2013–2015, 570 patients (80.7% M; mean age 46) treated for CH were found. In 50.4%, the identifying CH treatment was sumatriptan/subcutaneous+verapamil. During follow-up, >1/3 changed the preventive drug and interruption was the most frequent modification, although acute treatments were still prescribed. The mean annual cost/patient ranged from €2,956 to €2,267; pharmaceuticals expenditure represented the 56.4% and 57.3%, respectively.