Migraine Prevention Treatment Decreases Lost Productive Time
Like other chronic diseases, migraine can cause substantial losses in worker productivity. Now, there’s supporting evidence that taking a daily medication to prevent headache attacks can reduce lost productive time on the job. That finding, reported by newswise.com, is in a study in the March Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Led by Jennifer H. Lofland, Pharm.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, the researchers analyzed data from previous studies on 325 working adults with a history of migraine attacks, half were given a daily treatment with the preventive medication topiramate, while the other half took an inactive placebo.
Treatment with topiramate had only a small effect on work absenteeism, but it had a much greater effect on "presenteeism," days the employee was at work but performing at less than full capacity because of a migraine attack. Adding both effects together shows that total lost productive time per month decreased significantly for workers taking topiramate: from 14.6 hours before treatment to 5.1 hours during treatment. The researchers suggest that “employers should have treatments available for their employees with migraine that reduce both presenteeism and absenteeism in the workplace."
Reprinted with permission. © CCH
<p>Like other chronic diseases, migraine can cause substantial losses in worker productivity. Now, there’s supporting evidence that taking a daily medication to prevent headache attacks can reduce lost productive time on the job.</p>
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