× Key messages Background Findings Perspectives Expert commentary

Findings

What does this study add?

  • Migraine was more common in veterans with MST (21%, 8,102/37,375) than in veterans without MST (9%, 72,602/809,060)
  • Of the veterans with MST, a greater proportion of female veterans suffered from migraine (26.9%) than male veterans (11.7%).
  • Among veterans with migraine headache, MST was associated with a greater likelihood of ambulatory urgent/emergent care, neurologist visits and physiatrist visits.
  • Veterans with MST had significantly higher prevalence of comorbidities such as PTSD (61.7% vs. 39.9%), major depression (42.2% vs. 20.4%), and non-headache pain (80.9% vs. 73.3%) versus those without MST (p<0.0001).
  • Adjusting for gender and comorbid pain conditions, MST patients were more likely to receive headache abortive and preventative medications discordant with American Headache Society/American Academy of Neurology (AHS/AAN) guidelines, especially opioids.

 

Figure: Influence of MST on received migraine care