Patient Characteristics Associated with Frequent Calls to a Headache Specialty Clinic

Abstract

Objective: To identify characteristics of patients who frequently initiate contact with a headache specialty clinic outside of scheduled appointments. Materials and Methods: We scanned records of all telephone calls received during 1 calendar year at an academic headache clinic to identify frequent callers. High-frequency (HF) callers were defined as established patients who initiated calls on ≥ 20 days during the year. We compared these patients with a cohort of established low-frequency (LF) callers who initiated no telephone calls during the same year. Clinic records were analyzed for demographic characteristics, diagnoses, and medication use. Additionally, we administered a questionnaire to clinic physicians and administrative staff querying their perception of each patient's demands on clinic resources. Results: High-frequency (n = 26) and LF (n = 18) callers did not differ significantly in marital status, ethnicity, diagnosis, or age. There was a trend toward female gender among HF callers and toward being outside of a body mass index range of 19 to 30 kg/m². The groups were similar in their use of triptans and botulinum toxin treatments, but HF callers were more likely to be opioid users (96% vs 11.1%) and more likely to be taking multiple opioids in substantially higher potency, dosage, and quantity (154.4 mg vs 1.4 mg morphine equivalents/day). More than 80% of each group were migraineurs, but HF callers were more likely to have comorbid psychiatric disorders (P < 0.05). High-frequency callers were also more likely to be rated by administrative staff and physicians as demanding and time-consuming. Conclusions: In this university-based headache specialty clinic, HF callers were more likely to be opioid users on high morphine-equivalent doses. Compared with LF callers, HF callers placed a greater burden on health care resources as perceived by staff and physicians.

Keywords:

• headache
• migraine
• opioids
• patient characteristics
• pain clinic
• headache clinic
• telephone calls