INNOVATIONS in pharmacy

Impact of a pharmacist-led migraine group appointment program

Enav Z. Zusman

British Columbia Children’s Hospital Research Institute

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1321-5022

Caitlin Chew

Lower Mainland Pharmacy Services; University of British Columbia

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0997-0137

Jillian Reardon

The University of British Columbia

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7611-5689

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/iip.v17i1.6889

Keywords: migraine, pharmacist, group appointments, group medical visits, group education

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Abstract

Background: Migraine is a common and debilitating neurological disorder. While healthcare provider-led group appointments have been shown to support treatment management for a variety of medical conditions, this is the first study to describe pharmacist-led group appointments for people with migraine.

Methods: Adults with any migraine diagnosis were eligible to participate and recruited though posters and e-mail newsletters. Group appointments were facilitated by a clinical pharmacist in-person or virtually and included three sessions spanning three months. Topics covered included general migraine education, non-pharmacologic management, medications for acute and preventative treatment, and natural health products. Surveys were deployed to assess migraine attack frequency and severity and participant experience at baseline, program conclusion, and three months post-program completion. Results were analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods.

Results: Twelve participants enrolled in migraine group appointments. Upon program completion, 75% of participants felt they were better able to self-manage migraine. While migraine frequency and severity and days of missed work were numerically lower post-program completion, outcomes were not statistically significant. Participants reported high-satisfaction overall with pharmacist-led group appointments and ascribed benefits to both the education provided and support from peers with shared lived experiences.

Conclusion: Pharmacist-led group appointments were highly valued by people living with migraine and hold promise for reducing disease burden. Additional studies are required to further characterize impact on clinically relevant outcomes such as migraine attack frequency.