scholarly journals Prior History of Venous Thromboembolism Is a Significant Risk Factor for Recurrence of Thrombosis after Cancer Diagnosis

Blood ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 136 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 32-33
Author(s):  
Sargam Kapoor ◽  
Aman Opneja ◽  
Jahnavi Gollamudi ◽  
Lalitha V. Nayak

Introduction: The risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is increased in patients with cancer and contributes to significant morbidity, treatment delays and mortality. The Khorana score is the most well-validated VTE risk prediction tool that guides use of prophylactic anticoagulation in patients with cancer. The Khorana score includes cancer type, body mass index (BMI), hemoglobin, platelet count and leukocyte count but not a prior history of VTE which may increase the risk of recurrent VTE. Scant published data have suggested that a personal history of VTE increases the risk of VTE recurrence by 2 to 7-fold after cancer diagnosis. In this study, we examine the impact of history of VTE on VTE recurrence in a large cohort of patients with cancer. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients diagnosed with cancer using aggregated de-identified data from electronic medical record of >300 major hospitals in US (IBM Watson Explorys). Patients with a personal history of VTE (deep vein thrombosis and/ or pulmonary embolism) more than one year prior to the diagnosis of cancer were included. Within this cohort, patients who developed recurrent VTE within 180 days of diagnosis of cancer were identified. The primary end-point was the incidence of cancer associated VTE (CVTE) in patients with prior history of VTE as compared to patients without history of VTE. Baseline characteristics including age, race, gender, BMI, prothrombotic mutations (Factor V Leiden, prothrombin gene 20210A mutation), antineoplastic agent use, cancer type and laboratory values (as included in Khorana risk score) were compared in all patients. Results: A total of 4,159,400 patients with a diagnosis of cancer were included. Of these, 138,820 patients (3.3%) had a history of VTE >1 year prior to being diagnosed with cancer. The incidence of CVTE at 180 days was 10-fold higher in those with prior history of VTE compared to those without (36.9% vs 3.66%; OR 15.4, 95% CI 15.22-15.6, P value <0.0001). While the inherent risk of CVTE varied based on cancer type (highest risk of 10.5% in pancreatic cancer), the risk of recurrent VTE in patients with prior VTE history is magnified to a similar degree across all cancer types as shown in Figure 1. Baseline characteristics including age, race, gender and cancer type distribution were similar in all groups, as shown in Table 1. Factor V Leiden mutation or activated protein C resistance (FVL/APC) was more prevalent in patients with prior history of VTE and subsequent CVTE (3%) as compared to all patients with CVTE regardless of history (1%), as shown in Table 1. A higher BMI was noted in patients with prior history of VTE (49% and 71% respectively in patients with and without CVTE) as compared to 41% in all patients with CVTE. Greater use of antineoplastic agents (41%) was noted in the group of patients with prior history of VTE and subsequent CVTE as compared to patients with prior VTE but no CVTE (36%). Conclusion: Our study highlights that a prior personal history of VTE >1 year before cancer diagnosis significantly increases the risk of cancer associated VTE independently, regardless of other established risk factors for VTE suggesting that this group of patients, especially those undergoing anti-cancer treatment may benefit from prophylactic anticoagulation. Increased incidence of FVL/ APC in patients with prior history of VTE and recurrent CVTE may reflect increased testing for prothrombotic mutations in this cohort. Our ongoing efforts include examining the effect of addition of history of VTE to the Khorana score. Finally, large prospective observational studies would be key to assess the impact of history of VTE on cancer thrombosis. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Author(s):  
Wesley T O’Neal ◽  
J’Neka Claxton ◽  
Richard MacLehose ◽  
Lin Chen ◽  
Lindsay G Bengtson ◽  
...  

Background: Early cardiology involvement within 90 days of atrial fibrillation (AF) diagnosis is associated with greater likelihood of oral anticoagulant use and a reduced risk of stroke. Due to variation in cardiovascular care for patients with cancer, it is possible that a similar association does not exist for AF patients with cancer. Methods: We examined the association of early cardiology involvement with oral anticoagulation use among non-valvular AF patients with history of cancer (past or active), using data from 388,045 patients (mean age=68±15 years; 59% male) from the MarketScan database (2009-2014). ICD-9 codes in any position were used to identify cancer diagnosis prior to AF diagnosis. Provider specialty and filled anticoagulant prescriptions 3 months prior to and 6 months after AF diagnosis were obtained. Poisson regression models were used to compute the probability of an oral anticoagulant prescription fill and Cox regression was used to estimate the risk of stroke and major bleeding. Results: A total of 64,016 (17%) AF patients had a prior history of cancer. Cardiology involvement was less likely to occur among patients with history of cancer than those without (relative risk=0.92, 95% confidence interval (0.91, 0.93)). Similar differences were observed for cancers of the colon (0.90 (0.88, 0.92)), lung (0.76 (0.74, 0.78)), pancreas (0.74 (0.69, 0.80)), and hematologic system (0.88 (0.87, 0.90)), while no differences were observed for breast or prostate cancers. Patients with cancer were less likely to fill prescriptions for anticoagulants (0.89 (0.88, 0.90)) than those without cancer, and similar results were observed for cancers of the colon, lung, prostate, pancreas, and hematologic system. However, patients with cancer were more likely to fill prescriptions for anticoagulants (1.48 (1.45, 1.52)) if seen by a cardiology provider, regardless of cancer type. A reduced risk of stroke (hazard ratio=0.89 (0.81, 0.99)) was observed among all cancer patients who were seen by a cardiology provider than among those who were not, without an increased risk of bleeding (1.04 (0.95, 1.13)). Conclusion: AF patients with cancer were less likely to see a cardiologist, and less likely to fill an anticoagulant prescription than AF patients without cancer. However, cardiology involvement was associated with increased anticoagulant prescription fills and reduced risk of stroke, suggesting a beneficial role for cardiology providers to improve outcomes in AF patients with history of cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
J.P Yun ◽  
E.K Choi ◽  
K.D Han ◽  
S.R Lee ◽  
J.H Lim ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Patients with malignancies are known to have an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). However, there is a paucity of information regarding the cancer type and the risk of AF. We aimed to evaluate the risk of AF according to the type of cancer. Methods We enrolled 816,811 patients who were diagnosed with cancer from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database between 2009 and 2014. Age and sex-matched non-cancer control subjects (1:2, n=1,633,663) were selected and compared with patients with malignancy. Newly diagnosed nonvalvular AF was identified using the claims data. Besides, we performed a sensitivity analysis using lag periods from cancer diagnosis to AF for more than 1 year and more than 5 year. Results During a mean follow up of 4.7 years, AF was newly diagnosed in 25,356 patients with cancer (6.6 per 1000 person-years) whereas 31,801 patients in the control group (3.6 per 1000 person-years). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, cancer was an independent risk factor for incident AF (HR 1.97; 95% CI 1.94–2.00). Hematologic malignancies show higher correlation with incident AF (multiple myeloma, the hazard ratio (HR) 4.57; 95% confidence interval (CI) 4.08–5.12; leukemia, HR 4.15; 95% CI 3.75–4.59). Malignancies of the nervous system, esophagus, lung, and pancreatic cancer show higher risks of AF more than 3 times than control, whereas prostate cancer shows the lowest association with AF risk (HR 1.36; 95% CI 1.29–1.44). In subgroup analysis, the effect of cancer on AF development was more prominent in patients with younger age (<65 years) and fewer comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, dyslipidemia, and obesity). In sensitivity analysis using lag periods, the strength of risks of AF decline with time from cancer diagnosis but remain significant (“>1yr” HR 1.77; 95% CI 1.74–1.81; “>5yrs” HR 1.12; 95% CI 1.07–1.16). However, AF risk was more diverse according to the types of cancers in patients surviving above five years. Multiple myeloma, leukemia, lymphoma, ovarian, liver, and lung cancer show higher risks of AF than control while other types of cancer show no significant association with AF incidence after five years from a cancer diagnosis. Conclusion Although patients with cancer showed a higher risk of AF, but the impact on AF development was diverse among cancer types. Hematologic malignancies showed the highest risk of AF, and the risk was maintained up to 5 year after diagnosis of cancer. Therefore it would be reasonable to screen AF especially in those malignancies with high-risk for AF. Different AF risk in cancer patients Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None


2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 6616-6616
Author(s):  
G. Cherkowski ◽  
J. Dietrich ◽  
F. Chen ◽  
J. Fryzek ◽  
K. Bridges

6616 Background: Heparin is an effective treatment option for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in cancer patients on chemotherapy. To date, information on the use of both low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and non-LMWH in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy that have had a prior VTE is lacking. We evaluated heparin treatment patterns as well as the incidence of VTE in a cohort of cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, who have had a VTE prior to their cancer diagnosis. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using a large claims database representing the U.S. commercially-insured population. The cohort included all patients 18–64 years old from 2000 to 2007 who were diagnosed with cancer, were on chemotherapy, and who had a VTE occurring up to 12 months before cancer (n=331). We defined a diagnosis of cancer as two ICD-9 claims 30 days apart or more. A combination of ICD-9, HCPCS, and CPT codes were used to capture chemotherapy treatment after cancer. A VTE was identified by a single ICD-9 claim of 415.1, 451.2, 451.81, 451.9, 453.1, 453.2, 453.8, or 453.9. VTE claims occurring within 6 months of the index claim were considered part of the same VTE event. A patient was considered to have a VTE after cancer if they had a VTE claim that occurred both after the cancer diagnosis and at least 6 months beyond the most recent pre-cancer index VTE date. Results: Fifty-one percent of cancer patients with a history of VTE were prescribed an anticoagulant (n = 171). Fewer patients took LMWH compared to non-LMWH (6.7% versus 27.8%) while a portion took both (17.2%). A VTE after cancer was experienced by 49.1% of those on any kind of anticoagulant, 45.4% of those taking LMWH, 43.5% of those taking non-LMWH, and 59.6% of those who had taken both types. Fewer VTEs were reported among those taking no anticoagulants (29.4%). Conclusions: Approximately half of all cancer patients receiving chemotherapy were receiving heparin, with a smaller proportion using only LMWH. Even with prophylaxis, VTE recurs in half of cancer patients with a VTE history who receive chemotherapy. Recurrent VTE is a serious risk despite heparin or LMWH prophylaxis. [Table: see text]


BMC Urology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yechen Wu ◽  
Xi Chen ◽  
Duocheng Qian ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Yiping Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background A history of prior cancer commonly results in exclusion from cancer clinical trials. However, whether a prior cancer history has an adversely impact on clinical outcomes for patients with advanced prostate cancer (APC) remains largely unknown. We therefore aimed to investigate the impact of prior cancer history on these patients. Methods We identified patients with advanced prostate cancer diagnosed from 2004 to 2010 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to balance baseline characteristics. Kaplan–Meier method and the Cox proportional hazard model were utilized for survival analysis. Results A total of 19,772 eligible APC patients were included, of whom 887 (4.5 %) had a history of prior cancer. Urinary bladder (19 %), colon and cecum (16 %), melanoma of the skin (9 %) malignancies, and non-hodgkin lymphoma (9 %) were the most common types of prior cancer. Patients with a history of prior cancer had slightly inferior overall survival (OS) (AHR = 1.13; 95 % CI [1.02–1.26]; P = 0.017) as compared with that of patients without a prior cancer diagnosis. Subgroup analysis further indicated that a history of prior cancer didn’t adversely impact patients’ clinical outcomes, except in patients with a prior cancer diagnosed within 2 years, at advanced stage, or originating from specific sites, including bladder, colon and cecum, or lung and bronchus, or prior chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Conclusions A large proportion of APC patients with a prior cancer history had non-inferior survival to that of patients without a prior cancer diagnosis. These patients may be candidates for relevant cancer trials.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 6581-6581
Author(s):  
Alexander Qian ◽  
Edmund Qiao ◽  
Vinit Nalawade ◽  
Nikhil V. Kotha ◽  
Rohith S. Voora ◽  
...  

6581 Background: Hospital readmission are associated with unfavorable patient outcomes and increased costs to the healthcare system. Devising interventions to reduce risks of readmission requires understanding patients at highest risk. Cancer patients represent a unique population with distinct risk factors. The purpose of this study was to define the impact of a cancer diagnosis on the risks of unplanned 30-day readmissions. Methods: We identified non-procedural hospital admissions between January through November 2017 from the National Readmission Database (NRD). We included patients with and without a cancer diagnosis who were admitted for non-procedural causes. We evaluated the impact of cancer on the risk of 30-day unplanned readmissions using multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression models. Results: Out of 18,996,625 weighted admissions, 1,685,099 (8.9%) had record of a cancer diagnosis. A cancer diagnosis was associated with an increased risk of readmission compared to non-cancer patients (23.5% vs. 13.6%, p < 0.001). However, among readmissions, cancer patients were less likely to have a preventable readmission (6.5% vs. 12.1%, p < 0.001). When considering the 10 most common causes of initial hospitalization, cancer was associated with an increased risk of readmission for each of these 10 causes (OR range 1.1-2.7, all p < 0.05) compared to non-cancer patients admitted for the same causes. Compared to patients aged 45-64, a younger age was associated with increased risk for cancer patients (OR 1.29, 95%CI [1.24-1.34]) but decreased risk for non-cancer patients (OR 0.65, 95%CI [0.64-0.66]). Among cancer patients, cancer site was the most robust individual predictor for readmission with liver (OR 1.47, 95%CI [1.39-1.55]), pancreas (OR 1.36, 95%CI [1.29-1.44]), and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (OR 1.35, 95%CI [1.29-1.42]) having the highest risk compared to the reference group of prostate cancer patients. Conclusions: Cancer patients have a higher risk of 30-day readmission, with increased risks among younger cancer patients, and with individual risks varying by cancer type. Future risk stratification approaches should consider cancer patients as an independent group with unique risks of readmission.


Blood ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 134 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 3463-3463
Author(s):  
Micah Denay McCumber ◽  
Aaron Mark Wendelboe ◽  
Janis Campbell ◽  
Kai Ding ◽  
Michele G Beckman ◽  
...  

Background: Patients with cancer are at elevated risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). Active cancer contributes a 4-7 fold increased risk for VTE; however, the incidence of VTE stratified by subpopulations of patients diagnosed with cancer, especially race/ethnicity, is uncertain. Objective: Describe the incidence of VTE among adult patients (age ≥ 18 years) with a cancer diagnosis in Oklahoma County, OK according to age, gender, race, and cancer type. Methods: In collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we established a population-based surveillance system for VTE in Oklahoma County, OK between April 1, 2012-March 31, 2014 to estimate the incidences of first-time and recurrent VTE events. The Commissioner of Health made VTE a reportable condition and delegated surveillance-related responsibilities to the University of Oklahoma, College of Public Health. Active surveillance involved reviewing imaging studies (e.g., chest computed tomography and compression ultrasounds of the extremities) from all inpatient and outpatient facilities in the county and collecting demographic, treatment and risk factor data on all VTE case-patients. Patients were linked to the Oklahoma Central Cancer Registry. Any patient with a cancer diagnosis since 1997, excluding basal or squamous cell carcinoma, were included in the population-at-risk. Active cancer was defined as metastatic or a diagnosis ≤6 months before their VTE diagnosis. Poisson regression was used to estimate incidence rates (IRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), which are reported per 1,000 person years (PY). Estimates with &lt;10 events were suppressed. Results: Among all patients aged ≥18 years with a cancer diagnosis since 1997, 1.5% (n = 881) had a VTE event during the 2-year surveillance period. The overall annual age-adjusted incidence of VTE among those with cancer was 6.8 per 1,000 PY (95% CI: 5.81, 7.95). The demographic-specific incidence rates are summarized in Table 1. The VTE incidence did not significantly differ by sex. When stratified by age, annual VTE incidence was similar among those aged 18-39 years (6.1/1,000 PY, 95% CI: 4.35, 8.61), 40-59 years (6.2/1,000 PY, 95% CI: 5.4, 7.14), and 60-79 years (7.2/1,000 PY, 95% CI: 6.55, 7.90), however, the incidence was significantly higher (p&lt;0.05) in those aged 80+ years (10.1/1,000 PY, 95% CI: 8.77, 11.61). When patients with a cancer diagnosis were stratified by race/ethnicity, non-Hispanic blacks had the highest VTE incidence (11.7/1,000 PY, 95% CI: 10.00, 13.59), followed by Hispanics (8.0/1,000 PY, 95% CI: 5.66, 11.44), non-Hispanic whites (6.9/1,000 PY, 95% CI: 6.41, 7.48), other non-Hispanic/unknown (5.8/1,000 PY, 95% CI: 3.45, 9.85), and non-Hispanic Native Americans (2.6/1,000 PY, 95% CI: 1.39, 4.79). VTE incidence was highest among those with active cancer or a history of cancer within the past three years, after which it appeared to decrease. When stratified by primary cancer type, VTE incidence was highest among those with brain cancer (16.6/1,000 PY, 95% CI: 11.06, 25.04) and lowest among those with prostate cancer (5.2/1,000 PY, 95% CI: 4.20, 6.44). As shown in Table 2, when stratified by cancer type, the incidence of VTE was higher (non-overlapping CIs) among those with active cancer compared to those with a history of cancer &gt;6 months for several tumor types. Discussion: The incidence of VTE among those with cancer differs by race/ethnicity, with non-Hispanic blacks bearing the highest burden of disease. The risk of VTE persists and is particularly elevated up to three years after a cancer diagnosis. Disclosures Raskob: Eli Lilly: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy, Honoraria; Portola: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy; BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria; Janssen R&D, LLC: Consultancy, Honoraria; Tetherex: Consultancy; Daiichi Sankyo: Consultancy, Honoraria; Anthos: Consultancy; Bayer Healthcare: Consultancy, Honoraria; Boehringer Ingelheim: Consultancy.


Author(s):  
Maksymilian Gajda ◽  
Małgorzata Kowalska

Background: Low levels of public knowledge, incorrect beliefs, and anxiety are the most often mentioned factors that may negatively affect the implementation of preventive campaigns and timely diagnosis of cancer. Cancer is a major unresolved problem for global public health. As a result, many effective preventive measures need to be found and implemented. Methods: For a duration of 18 months, readers of the Polish scientific Internet portal were invited to participate in the Polish On-line Randomized Intervention aimed at Neoplasm Avoidance (PORINA) study. Level of cancer-related anxiety was our main measure (self-declared on a simple five-point Likert scale) in this analysis. Results: A total of 463 participants were qualified for the final analysis. Respondents with a positive family history of cancer (p < 0.001) declared the highest level of cancer-related anxiety, whereas lower levels were declared by those previously treated for cancer (p = 0.006). The conducted educational intervention reduced the declared level of cancer-related anxiety. Conclusions: The results of this study provide evidence that the use of web-based interventions aimed at increasing awareness could reduce cancer-related anxiety and may lead to more frequent consent to undergo some of the medical procedures used to diagnose or treat cancer.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A H Malik ◽  
S Shetty ◽  
S Malik

Abstract Background Recent reports indicate an important interplay between Atrial fibrillation (AF) and cancer. There is little information regarding the outcomes of these patients. Hence, we performed a study to identify predictors of in-hospital mortality to help guide goals of care discussions. Methods The Nationwide Inpatient Sample was used to identify patients with a diagnosis of cancer, who were found to have AF from 2002–2014. Trend rate, patients' and hospital characteristics along with in-hospital complications and predictors of in-hospital mortality were assessed. Backward stepwise elimination technique was used to fit the multivariate regression model. Results Over the 13-year study period, 12,410,290 (national estimate) patients with a cancer diagnosis were identified. 1,013,735 had AF, and 10.2% of the AF patients with cancer died while hospitalised. A variety of comorbidities, in-hospital procedures and in-hospital complications increased the odds of in-hospital mortality in these patients. Also, weekend admissions, elective admissions, and rural hospitals in comparison to urban teaching and non-teaching hospitals were associated with higher in-hospital mortality. Conclusion Stroke, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, deep venous thrombosis, acute kidney injury, congestive heart failure, sepsis, and cardiogenic shock are most significant predictors of in-hospital mortality in AF patients with cancer. Acknowledgement/Funding None


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Flaminia Olearo ◽  
Huyen Nguyen ◽  
Fabrice Bonnet ◽  
Sabine Yerly ◽  
Gilles Wandeler ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective The impact of the M184V/I mutation on the virological failure (VF) rate in HIV-positive patients with suppressed viremia switching to an abacavir/lamivudine/dolutegravir regimen has been poorly evaluated. Method This is an observational study from 5 European HIV cohorts among treatment-experienced adults with ≤50 copies/mL of HIV-1 RNA who switched to abacavir/lamivudine/dolutegravir. Primary outcome was the time to first VF (2 consecutive HIV-1 RNA &gt;50 copies/mL or single HIV-1 RNA &gt;50 copies/mL accompanied by change in antiretroviral therapy [ART]). We also analyzed a composite outcome considering the presence of VF and/or virological blips. We report also the results of an inverse probability weighting analysis on a restricted population with a prior history of VF on any ART regimen to calculate statistics standardized to the disparate sampling population. Results We included 1626 patients (median follow-up, 288.5 days; interquartile range, 154–441). Patients with a genotypically documented M184V/I mutation (n = 137) had a lower CD4 nadir and a longer history of antiviral treatment. The incidence of VF was 29.8 cases (11.2–79.4) per 1000 person-years in those with a previously documented M184V/I, and 13.6 cases (8.4–21.8) in patients without documented M184V/I. Propensity score weighting in a restricted population (n = 580) showed that M184V/I was not associated with VF or the composite endpoint (hazard ratio [HR], 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.35–4.59 and HR 1.66; 95% CI, 0.81–3.43, respectively). Conclusions In ART-experienced patients switching to an abacavir/lamivudine/dolutegravir treatment, we observed few VFs and found no evidence for an impact of previously-acquired M184V/I mutation on this outcome. Additional analyses are required to demonstrate whether these findings will remain robust during a longer follow-up.


Cephalalgia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Evers ◽  
Nicole Brockmann ◽  
Oliver Summ ◽  
Ingo W Husstedt ◽  
Achim Frese

Objective Migraine is a common disorder affecting more than 10% of the population. The prevalence of migraine among physicians and, in particular, among headache specialists is widely unknown as is the impact of suffering from migraine on the attitudes towards migraine and on treatment recommendations of physicians. We designed a survey among headache specialists and neurologists and compared the results to general pain specialists and general practitioners. Methods A standardized interview in randomly selected samples of these four groups of physicians was performed. The interview included data on the prevalence of migraine and other primary headache disorders in the physician groups, self-report on their own treatment, attitudes towards migraine, and treatment recommendations for migraine. The prevalence rates were also compared to an age- and sex-matched German general population sample. Results The lifetime prevalence of migraine was higher in headache specialists (53.0%) than in general neurologists (43.0%), pain specialists (21.7%), general practitioners (19.3%), and in the general age- and sex-matched population (16.8%). Cluster headache prevalence was high in neurologists (1.9%) and in headache specialists (1.3%); episodic tension-type headache prevalence was significantly lower in general practitioners (19.5%). One reason, among others, was that being a migraine (or cluster headache) patient more often prompted the sufferers to become a specialist in neurology. Physicians with migraine rated the biopsychosocial concept of lower importance for migraine than did physicians without migraine. The self-treatment of migraine in physicians differs from the treatment recommendations to the patients. For example, only 36.4% of the headache specialists with migraine take triptans whereas 94.4% recommend triptans to their patients. Conclusions We conclude that being a headache specialist or a neurologist is associated with an increased migraine or cluster headache prevalence. This personal history of migraine leads to a more somatic view of migraine as a disorder and to different treatment recommendations as compared to self-treatment.


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