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Abstract Introduction Migraine management is characterized by the poor use of preventive therapy and the overuse of acute medications. An analysis of current treatment patterns in migraineurs is needed to improve care in this patient population. The aim of this study was to describe treatment patterns and healthcare utilization of newly diagnosed migraine patients. Methods This was a retrospective observation study of newly diagnosed migraine patients (no indication of migraine in the past year) identified in the IBM MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters database from 1 January 2010 to 30 June 2014. The final study population comprised persons aged 18–64 years at index (new diagnosis of migraine) with 12 months of continuous enrollment in an insurance plan with medical and pharmacy benefits pre-index and post-index. Treatment patterns and healthcare resource utilization were assessed during the post-index period (at least 12-months). Results Of the 1,588,666 migraine patients identified in the database as potentially eligible to participate in the study, 284,719 (17.9%) met the final inclusion criteria. Patients generally used acute and preventive therapies to manage migraine attacks, with most patients using preventive therapy (59.1%). However, 67.9% of those using preventive therapy discontinued the current therapy, with a median time to discontinuation of 5 months. Most of the patients who discontinued preventative therapy also used an acute treatment to manage migraine attacks after discontinuation (77.6%), generally in the year following discontinuation (68.4%). Patients on acute therapies were found to use triptans excessively (1.6%) and other non-migraine-specific acute medications for treatment (7.1%). Acute patients were also at risk of opioid dependence (12.0%) and commonly received opioids or barbiturates as first-line therapy (34.1%). Conclusion Newly diagnosed migraine patients are not being properly treated, as indicated by their excessive use of acute therapies and short time on preventive treatment before discontinuation of that treatment. Further study of the reasons why patients discontinue preventive therapy (adverse events, no response, etc.) and continue to excessively use acute treatments once their treatment regimen has been established is needed.

ObjectiveTo examine the effects of belimumab initiation on healthcare resource utilisation (HCRU) and costs in SLE.MethodsThis retrospective observational cohort study used healthcare administrative claims data from the IBM MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database to identify patients with SLE billing codes who received ≥1 intravenous belimumab infusion between March 2011 and December 2015. The first belimumab administration was the ‘index date’. During the 6-month postindex period, nine belimumab infusions were recommended: three during the initiation period and six during the maintenance period. HCRU and cost data for inpatient admissions, emergency department visits, physician office visits, hospital-based outpatient visits, laboratory services, other outpatient services and outpatient pharmacy prescriptions were compared in the 6-month pre/postindex periods.ResultsOf the 1879 patients with SLE included, 43% received ≥3 intravenous initiation administrations. An average of 5.3 (SD: 2.4) of the nine recommended belimumab administrations were received within 6 months. In the 6-month preindex versus postindex periods, significant reductions were noted for inpatient hospitalisations (18% vs 9%, p