SMILE: First Observational Prospective Cohort Study of Migraine in Primary Care in France. Description of Methods and Study Population

The SMILE study was conducted among migraine patients consulting in primary care in France. The first phase aimed to describe the study sample of patients at entry to the study, especially emotional dimension (Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale), functional impact (abridged Migraine Specific Questionnaire), stress (Perceived Stress Scale) and coping behaviours (brief COPE inventory avoidance subscale, Coping Strategies Questionnaire catastrophizing subscale), as well as treatments used and their effectiveness and treatments prescribed at end of consultation. Results indicate that consulting migraine patients suffer frequent migraine attacks, exhibit substantial levels of anxiety, functional impact and stress, and often use maladaptive coping strategies. Abortive treatments appear ineffective in most patients (74%). Patients with more affected psychometric variables and treatment ineffectiveness are more likely to be deemed eligible for prophylactic treatment. These data highlight the seriousness of migraine and maladjustment of patients consulting in primary care.