Management of Migraine and the Accessibility of Specialist Care – Findings from a Multi-national Assessment of 28 Healthcare Networks

Introduction: Migraine is one of the leading reasons for patient access to neurology services. Waiting lists can limit patients’ ability to access specialist care, even at specialised headache centres. Our study aims to investigate this issue, identify possible root causes and also document existing good practices. Methods: We conducted a study in a sample of 28 headache centres and their networks in six countries by performing in-depth interviews with 166 healthcare professionals. Results: The waiting list for new patients and follow-up visits exceeded 3 months in 61% and 36% of centres, respectively. Patients waited on average 6 months for their first consultation, with peaks beyond 12 months. Five areas were identified as common root causes: (1) inappropriate referral of patients with low-frequency episodic migraine or patients under acute treatment, (2) lack of triage/priority allocation, (3) limited resource availability or resources dedicated to migraine, (4) limited delegation of activities, and (5) suboptimal management of follow-up visits. Conclusion: Our work highlights a gap between best practices for migraine management proposed in the literature and current real-world practice. Guidelines recommend a “network” approach to bridge different levels of care. Based on our findings, consistency in practice amongst specialised headache clinics and integration with primary care represent an important area for further improvement.