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Assessing the Impact of Migraine on Health‐Related Quality of Life: An Additional Use of the Quality of Well‐being Scale–Self‐administered
Author(s) -
Sieber William J.,
David Kristin M.,
Adams Jim E.,
Kaplan Robert M.,
Ganiats Theodore G.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
headache: the journal of head and face pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.14
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1526-4610
pISSN - 0017-8748
DOI - 10.1046/j.1526-4610.2000.040008662.x
Subject(s) - migraine , medicine , quality of life (healthcare) , physical therapy , psychiatry , nursing
Objectives.—To compare the interviewer‐administered Quality of Well‐being Scale (QWB) with a self‐administered form (QWB‐SA) for patients with migraine, and to compare the health status of migraineurs to other medical populations. Background.—With the increasing need to document the cost‐effectiveness of treatment for migraine, limitations with both the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form‐36 items and the QWB have been an impediment to research using cost‐effectiveness as an outcome. Demonstrating the sensitivity of an alternative instrument which addresses these limitations would facilitate cost‐effectiveness analyses on treatments for migraine. Methods.—Eighty‐nine adults (87% women) known to suffer from migraine were asked to complete both the interviewer‐administered QWB and the self‐administered version (QWB‐SA) on three occasions. The first occasion was on a day when no migraine was experienced in the previous 7 days. The second and third assessments were completed within 48 hours of the onset of a migraine. Results.—While both the QWB and the QWB‐SA successfully distinguished migraine from nonmigraine days, more migraines were reported on the QWB‐SA. Overall, both instruments showed similar patterns of patient dysfunction during a migraine attack. Each component of the QWB‐SA successfully distinguished migraine from nonmigraine days, and the QWB‐SA showed a linear sensitivity to pain intensity and disability during a migraine episode. Both instruments are able to detect a migraine's effect on multiple domains of quality of life. Study participants scored significantly lower on the QWB‐SA during a migraine episode than several comparison medical populations. Conclusions.—The QWB and the QWB‐SA appear to have sensitivity to migraine severity, and the ability to quantitate an effect in multiple quality‐of‐life domains. Both measures can be used to calculate quality‐adjusted life‐years, thus facilitating cost‐effectiveness and health policy work in this important clinical area.