Quality of Life of Migraine Patients Treated With Combined Propranolol and Topiramate

Background: Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder, which affects the quality of life (QOL). The burden of this disease could be improved by adequate prophylactic treatment. Objectives: We aimed to assess the quality of life in patients with migraine treated with both propranolol and topiramate in Shiraz, Iran. Patients and Methods: In this interventional study, we enrolled 100 newly diagnosed migraine patients who were referred to multidisciplinary clinic of Motahari in Shiraz. Reliable and valid Persian SF-36 questionnaire were used for the evaluation of baseline health-related QOL (HRQOL) and after treatment with 25 mg topiramate (twice daily) and 20 mg propranolol (three times daily) as prophylactic treatment. We used SPSS version 13 for data entry and analysis. Results: Scale differences were statistically significant in all scales before and after the intervention, except in vitality scale. After treatment, the highest score belonged to physical problem and the lowest one was emotional problem. Men had significantly higher scores in body pain compared to women (P = 0.039). Conclusions: Combined migraine prophylaxis with propranolol and topiramate improved HRQOL in migraine sufferers in our study. Adequate prophylaxis improved especially physical problem scale, which manifests with better performing activity and work. More study on the effect of monotherapy along with combined therapy with different doses on HRQOL may be helpful to further evaluate this effect.