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Overuse of Brain Scans for Headaches Persists, Despite Guidelines
Brain scans remain "substantially overused" on patients who visit the doctor complaining of headaches and migraines, despite multiple guidelines recommending against their use. Physicians must be vigilant about having conversations with patients about the risks, neurologists say.
Brain scans remain "substantially overused" on patients who visit the doctor complaining of headaches and migraines, despite multiple guidelines recommending against their use, a new JAMA Internal Medicine study says. Physicians must be vigilant about having conversations with patients about the risks, neurologists say.
Of more than 51 million U.S. patients who visited a primary-care physician, neurologist or other specialist for a headache, just more than 12% received an MRI or CT scan, according to the study which analyzed National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey data for all headache visits for patients 18 and older between 2007 and 2010. The data also found that of the more than 25 million who presented with a migraine, nearly 10% had undergone an imaging test. Use of neuroimaging was higher if the headache or migraine diagnosis was listed as the primary reason for the visit. During the four-year period, spending on the tests was estimated at $3.9 billion, according to the study.
Read the full story here: http://bit.ly/1fW01OF
Source: Modern Healthcare
Optimizing Episodic Migraine Care: ACP’s Latest Treatment Guidance
February 3rd 2025With historical data showing migraine to be underdiagnosed and undertreated, new guidance from the American College of Physicians (ACP) encompasses 3 recommendations on treating episodic migraine in adult patients in the outpatient setting.
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Update on Migraine Patient Care Challenges During the Pandemic
October 5th 2021Migraines plague some 35 million Americans, the majority of them women in their 30s and 40s, and disabling pain and symptoms are linked to lost productivity at work, school, and home. On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we bring you an excerpt of an interview with a headache specialist about the extra challenges for patients and providers during the pandemic.
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Care for Migraine Insufficient in Germany, Online Survey Finds
March 25th 2022An online survey of migraineurs in Germany aimed to evaluate their most pressing unmet needs, with data collected on socioeconomic background, medical care experience, acute medication use, and migraine prophylaxis use and experience.
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CGRP Inhibitors: A Promising New Class of Drugs for Migraine
November 14th 2018This fall, The American Journal of Managed Care® convened a panel of experts on migraine to discuss calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitors, an emerging therapy for the condition, which affects 39 million people in the United States.
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