What do patients want from their acute migraine therapy?

A minority of migraine sufferers are diagnosed and treated and medical consultation rates are low even among those aware of their condition. Despite guidelines recommending the use of triptans, there are high rates of usage of nonspecific treatments, mainly simple analgesics, coupled with low prevalence of triptan use. Consequently, many individuals with migraine are not receiving the kind of treatment that would meet their expectations and leave them satisfied. For patients, the most important attributes of acute migraine treatment are complete freedom from pain, rapid onset of action, no recurrence and absence of side effects. More widespread use of triptans would have the potential to improve outcomes and increase patient satisfaction, leading to a better migraine-related quality of life. In choosing among triptans, physicians need to match individual patients' needs and wants with the attributes of the particular triptans, taking into account a medication's complete profile of efficacy, consistency and tolerability, and using information from meta-analyses and modelling to ensure evidenced-based, patient-oriented decision-making.