Table 3.
Therapeutic classes of medications taken by the 291 patients for acute treatment and comparison between chronic and episodic headache patients (some patients took more than one symptomatic drug)
| Therapeutic class | Total (n = 291), n (%) | Episodic headache (n = 172), n (%) | Chronic headache (n = 119), n (%) | OR [95% CI]a | P valueb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSAIDs | 214/291 (73.5) | 133/172 (77.3) | 81/119 (68.1) | 0.63 [0.37–1.06] | 0.0789 |
| Triptans | 143/291 (49.1) | 65/172 (37.8) | 78/119 (65.5) | 3.13 [1.55–5.20] | <0.0001 |
| Analgesic combinations | 63/291 (21.6) | 29/172 (16.9) | 34/119 (28.6) | 1.97 [1.12–3.49] | 0.0173 |
| Opioids | 13/291 (4.5) | 2/172 (1.2) | 11/119 (9.2) | 8.66 [1.82–41.09] | 0.0011 |
| Muscle relaxants | 9/291 (3.1) | 3/172 (1.7) | 6/119 (5.0) | 2.99 [0.73–12.31] | 0.1107 |
| Antiemetics | 5/291 (1.7) | 1/172 (0.6) | 4/119 (3.4) | 5.95 [0.65–54.77] | 0.0733 |
CI confidence interval, OR odds ratio, NSAID nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug
achronic vs episodic headache OR
bp value is derived from a Chi square test for homogeneity of odds