Objective:

We characterize online search data for migraine headaches to identify areas of improvement for health literacy interventions.

Background:

Migraine headaches are a serious health issue in the United States that account for approximately 4.3 million office visits and 4 million emergency department visits each year, with an estimated cost of $4.3 billion per annum. By optimizing patient education, we may reduce un-necessary visits and improve outcomes.

Design/Methods:

Google search data based on the search term “Migraine Headache” were analyzed according to the most common People Also Ask (PAA) questions using “Search Response” (https://searchresponse.io/). Two authors (MT and AZ) independently categorized the top 100 PAA questions into six themes adapted from the National Library of Medicine: treatment, prevention and management, prognosis, diagnosis and tests, symptoms, and causes and risk factors.

Results:

“Search Response” retrieved 428 questions relating to the term “Migraine Headache”. The most common questions were related to Treatment (30) (e.g., “What is the first line treatment for migraine headache?”), Prevention and Management (17) (e.g., “Which drug is considered a preventative drug for migraine headache?”), Prognosis (12) (e.g., “Is migraine headache life threatening?”), Symptoms (8) (e.g., “What are prodromal symptoms of migraine headache?”), Diagnosis and Tests (8) (e.g., “What are the diagnostic criteria for migraine headache?”), and Causes and Risk Factors (6) (e.g., “What is most likely to trigger a migraine headache?”). Nineteen questions were uncategorized (e.g., “Is migraine headache a Social Security disability?”).

Conclusions:

The findings suggest that patients primarily seek information about migraine treatment and management. Results reflected an opportunity educate patients at risk of migraine headaches about managing acute symptoms to reduce unnecessary physician visits.