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Undertreatment in patients with primary headaches attending headache centres

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Abstract

Undertreatment in patients with primary headaches was evaluated in 600 patients attending 7 headache centres in Lombardy by assessing the rates of acute and prophylactic treatments used before the first visit and the rates of prescription of acute and prophylactic treatments after the visit at the headache centre. Our results clearly showed that most headache patients are likely to receive suboptimal treatments, confirming the utility of headache centres as well as the need for promoting education of GPs and the development of appropriate networks to reduce undertreatment rates, in order to highlight the negative impact caused by primary headache on individuals and on the society.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that there is no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Headache Centre, Neurological Institute “C. Besta” IRCCS Foundation, Via Celoria 11, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Domenico D’Amico & G. Bussone

  2. Progetto Cefalee Lombardia Group, Milan, Italy

    Domenico D’Amico, C. Gambini, N. Massetto, F. Moschiano, M. C. Tonini, E. Ferrante, C. Lovati, P. Bernardoni & G. Bussone

Authors
  1. Domenico D’Amico
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  2. C. Gambini
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  3. N. Massetto
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  4. F. Moschiano
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  5. M. C. Tonini
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  6. E. Ferrante
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  7. C. Lovati
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  8. P. Bernardoni
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  9. G. Bussone
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Correspondence to Domenico D’Amico.

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D’Amico, D., Gambini, C., Massetto, N. et al. Undertreatment in patients with primary headaches attending headache centres. Neurol Sci 32 (Suppl 1), 181–183 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-011-0528-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-011-0528-1

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