Table 2.
Characteristics of polypharmacy in the total sample and comparison between chronic and episodic headache patients (some patients took more than one medication at the same time)
| Variable | Total (n = 300), n (%) | Episodic headache (n = 181), n (%) | Chronic headache (n = 119), n (%) | OR [95% CI]a | P valueb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of medications taken per patient | |||||
| Mean ± SD | 4.37 ± 2.46 | 3.64 ± 2.05 | 5.49 ± 2.63 | 0.0001 | |
| Range | 1–13 | 1–10 | 1–13 | ||
| No. of headache medications per patient | |||||
| Mean ± SD | 3.79 ± 1.96 | 2.22 ± 1.30 | 3.55 ± 1.90 | < 0.0001 | |
| Range | 0–9 | 0–7 | 1–9 | ||
| No. of patients taking 5 or more and 10 or more drugs per day | |||||
| ≥ 5 medications | 122/300 (40.7) | 52/181 (28.7) | 70/119 (58.8) | 3.54 [2.13–5.91] | < 0.0001 |
| ≥ 10 medications | 9/300 (3.0) | 3/181 (1.7) | 6/119 (5.0) | 3.15 [0.77–12.97] | 0.0933 |
| Type of taken medications/supplements | |||||
| Acute headache medications | 291/300 (97.0) | 172/181 (95.0) | 119/119 (100.0) | ∞ | 0.0137 |
| Prophylaxis headache medications | 132/300 (44.0) | 55/181 (30.4) | 77/119 (64.7) | 4.20 [2.49–7.09] | < 0.0001 |
| Other medications | 230/300 (76.7) | 133/181 (73.5) | 97/119 (81.5) | 1.59 [0.90–2.82] | 0.1082 |
| Dietary supplements | 62/300 (20.7) | 38/181 (21.0) | 24/119 (20.2) | 0.95 [0.54–1.69] | 0.8629 |
Values are n (%) unless otherwise stated
CI confidence interval, OR odds ratio, SD standard deviation
achronic vs episodic headache OR
bp value is derived from a Student’s t test with equal variances for the comparison of the number of medications taken daily and from a Chi square test for homogeneity of odds for all the other comparison