OBJECTIVES:

To collect opinions from migraine patients on which instrument captures the migraine-related quality of life better between EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D) and Migraine Specific Quality of Life v2.1 (MSQ v2.1).

METHODS:

A Focus group interview was performed to collect opinions of migraine patients directly. Eligible patients were selected among the ordinary people who are the panel of the survey research company. People with migraine diagnoses, experiencing more than eight days of migraine attacks per month, and using prescription migraine drugs were selected. Participants were asked to complete EQ-5D and MSQ v2.1 questionnaires at the interview. Next, they were asked to give their opinions about these two questionnaires.

RESULTS:

Eight patients met the eligible criteria and participated in the interview. No participants thought the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire captures the migraine-related quality of life better than the MSQ v2.1 questionnaire does. Participants evaluated the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire as “not related with headache”, “questions seem to be more related to my back pain than my headache” and “this questionnaire asked me to check your own health status today. But since it is limited to current condition, all those not sick right now will get a result ‘having no problems’.” Participants also assessed the MSQ v2.1 could capture the difference in patients’ quality of life according to the migraine patient’s condition more sensitively than EQ-5D. The reason for this was that MSQ v2.1 has a more detailed rating scale and migraine-relevant questions. Overall, participants evaluated MSQ v2.1 as a more appropriate instrument to assess the quality of life of migraine patients. However, many participants also mentioned they were not perfectly satisfied with MSQ v2.1 questionnaire. One reason for this was that the questionnaire has lack of emotion-related questions.

CONCLUSIONS:

Interview participants (migraine patients) evaluated MSQ v2.1 as a more appropriate instrument to capture the migraine-related quality of life than EQ-5D.