Real-world experiences of migraine patients on Erenumab: a Kuwait single center cohort

ABSTRACT

Background

Migraine is a prevalent headache disorder with a significant impact on the quality of life. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness and safety of erenumab, mAb targeting the CGRP receptor, in treating chronic (CM) and episodic (EM) migraine in clinical practice Kuwait, providing region-specific insights to treatment options.

Method

This was a prospective observational cohort study of patients diagnosed with EM or CM treated with erenumab. The primary outcome of the study was to assess the proportion of patients achieving ≥ 50% reduction in monthly mean migraine days, and several changes including the mean number of monthly migraine days, the frequency of analgesic use, attack severity, AEs, and QoL.

Results

The study included 151 patients with a mean age of 44.0±11.4 years, and 81.9% female. The primary outcome was achieved in 74.2% of patients, with a significant (p < 0.001) reduction in headache frequency, pain severity, analgesic use, and improvement in QoL. Age and duration of migraine were significant predictors of achieving a ≥ 50% reduction in headache frequency after therapy (OR = 0.955; p = 0.009) and (OR = 0.965; p = 0.025), respectively. Treatment compliance was observed in 76.2% of patients, and 24.5% discontinued treatment. Constipation was the most commonly reported AEs (6.0%), and conservative management was the most common approach to managing AEs.

Conclusion

Erenumab was effective in reducing the frequency and severity of migraine attacks and improving QoL, and safe with manageable AEs in a real-world setting in Kuwait. Further research is needed to better understand erenumab’s effectiveness and safety in different populations and settings, as well as to compare it with other migraine prophylactic treatments.

KEYWORDS:

• Migraine
• erenumab
• adverse events
• quality of life
• Kuwait

Acknowledgments

We thank the patients who participated in this study, the site personnel, and the coordinating investigators. In addition, we would like to thank CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting Services for their assistance in data analysis, manuscript writing, and publication process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Authors’ contributions

FA, HA, AA, OA, and SA collected the data. JA and RA analyzed and interpreted the data. JA and SFA wrote the initial draft of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study received approval from the Kuwaiti Ministry of Health’s local ethics committee (no. 1671/2021). Written consent was obtained from all participants.

Supplementary Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/01616412.2024.2354618

Additional information

Funding

Novartis Middle East FZE, Representative Office, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, funded the study design, data analysis, and writing of the manuscript.