Neuropalliative care in a tertiary-level hospital.

OBJECTIVES: Palliative care in neurology is a recent specialty to improve the quality of life of patients with severe neurological diseases. This study aims to determine the frequency of neurological inpatients who had indication of palliative care, and evaluate the symptomatology, demographic profile, the need for supportive measures, advance directives for life and medical history of patients in a tertiary hospital in Brazil. METHODS: This cross-sectional analytical study evaluated all patients admitted to the neurological semi-intensive care unit (ICU) at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein with neurological conditions from February through August 2022. The Palliative Performance Scale (weight loss greater than 5% associated with body changes and a negative response to the question: 'Would you be surprised if the patient died within 1 year?') was used to indicate palliative care. Patients were divided into three groups: patients with palliative care needs (groupindication), patients without palliative care needs (groupwithout indication) and patients who received at least one assessment of a palliative care team (grouppalliative). Demographic data were analysed using the Χ2 test for qualitative and Kruskal-Wallis test for quantitative variables. RESULTS: Of the 198 patients included in the study, 115 (58%) had palliative care needs. Only 6.9% received assessment by the palliative care team, and 9.56% had advance directives in their medical records. Patients in groupindication had a higher prevalence of symptoms, such as fatigue, depression, shortness of breath and lack of appetite, and required more supportive measures, such as oxygen therapy, enteral/parenteral nutrition, admissions at ICU and days in hospital. CONCLUSION: Despite the high demand for palliative care in neurology, few patients receive this treatment, resulting in decreased quality of care. Therefore, greater integration and discussion of palliative care in neurology are needed.

Headache and rhinitis: pattern search on Google Trends for 17 years.

OBJECTIVE: Headache and rhinitis are highly prevalent and comorbid. The objective of the present study is to analyze the correlation of headache and rhinitis, in addition to the temporal pattern of these diseases in 17 years, using the Google Trends platform. METHODS: Google Trends was searched from January 2004 to June 2021, using the entry: ["rinite" (rhinitis) + "dor de cabeça" (headache)" + "Alzheimer" + "enxaqueca" (migraine)]. Migraine, primary headache, and Alzheimer's, with no clear relation with headache, were used as controls. After the descriptive analysis by dispersion diagrams, Pearson's test and a simple regression model were performed. Subsequently, this study analyzed the seasonality of the volume of research on rhinitis and headache. RESULTS: A strong correlation between rhinitis and headache (0.86) was found in the time interval analyzed. In addition, a seasonality was identified in the volume of searches for the term rhinitis with increased volume in the fall and peaks in the month of May, with a decrease in the spring and early summer. Moreover, an increase of searches on headache was observed, suggesting worse burden of this pathology. CONCLUSION: Headaches and rhinitis were correlated in 17 years of research on the Google Trends platform. Circannual variation of both conditions was observed. Additional studies with digital research may be useful to better understand the epidemiology and comorbidities of headache.

Different routes of administration in chronic migraine prevention lead to different placebo responses: a meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT: Placebo response is a powerful determinant of health outcomes in several disorders. Meta-analysis of clinical trials in pain conditions shows that it can contribute up to 75% of the overall treatment effect. Placebo response deriving from different routes of administration is poorly understood in primary headaches' pharmacological prevention. Thus, this meta-analysis aims to analyze how different routes of administration affect the placebo response in chronic migraine (CM). We conducted a meta-analysis with 7 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials, with 5672 patients older than 18 years who suffer from CM without associated comorbidities. We compared those who received a placebo-administered agent for the preventive treatment of CM subcutaneous, endovenous, or oral against those who received multiple head injections. The primary outcome was reduction in the number of days with migraine in the month assessed at 12, 16, and 24 weeks of treatment compared with baseline. Our study shows that placebo responses were greater when botulinum toxin was applied to the head, followed by intravenous injection of the anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide monoclonal antibody eptinezumab. Oral topiramate and subcutaneous monoclonal showed no difference, being inferior to head injection. Administration route affects placebo responses in CM preventive treatment. Elucidating the underlying mechanisms that mediate a placebo response in migraine treatment is beneficial to clinical practice and drug development, especially when comparing drugs with different routes of administration, with the effect of application to the head being superior to the other routes in this study. In our study the placebo response accounted for approximately 75% of the therapeutic gain in the treatment of CM.

Headache and rhinitis: pattern search on Google Trends for 17 years

ABSTRACT Objective Headache and rhinitis are highly prevalent and comorbid. The objective of the present study is to analyze the correlation of headache and rhinitis, in addition to the temporal pattern of these diseases in 17 years, using the Google Trends platform. Methods Google Trends was searched from January 2004 to June 2021, using the entry: ["rinite" (rhinitis) + "dor de cabeça" (headache)" + "Alzheimer" + "enxaqueca" (migraine)]. Migraine, primary headache, and Alzheimer's, with no clear relation with headache, were used as controls. After the descriptive analysis by dispersion diagrams, Pearson's test and a simple regression model were performed. Subsequently, this study analyzed the seasonality of the volume of research on rhinitis and headache. Results A strong correlation between rhinitis and headache (0.86) was found in the time interval analyzed. In addition, a seasonality was identified in the volume of searches for the term rhinitis with increased volume in the fall and peaks in the month of May, with a decrease in the spring and early summer. Moreover, an increase of searches on headache was observed, suggesting worse burden of this pathology. Conclusion Headaches and rhinitis were correlated in 17 years of research on the Google Trends platform. Circannual variation of both conditions was observed. Additional studies with digital research may be useful to better understand the epidemiology and comorbidities of headache.

Mental Health and Quality of Life Among Adults With Single, Multiple, and No Religious Affiliations.

Few studies have investigated the "multiple religious affiliations" phenomenon. This study aims to understand those with "multiple religious affiliations," describing its prevalence and investigating if there are differences in mental health and quality of life between this group and those with a single religious affiliation and those with no religious affiliation. A total of 1169 adults were included, and 58% had a single religious affiliation, 27.7% had multiple religious affiliations, and 12.3% had no religious affiliation. Participants with a single religious affiliation presented better mental health and quality of life than those with multiple or no religious affiliations. Although most outcomes were similar between multiple and no religious affiliations, happiness and optimism were higher in the multiple religious group, and anxiety was lower in the no religious group. Health care professionals should be aware of the secondary religious affiliations of their patients to identify possible conflicts and to treat them comprehensively.

Migraine patients' journey until a tertiary headache center: an observational study.

BACKGROUND: Migraine diagnosis is based on clinical aspects and is dependent on the experience of the attending physician. This study aimed to describe the patients journey profile until they start their experience in a tertiary headache center. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, medical charts from migraine patients were reviewed to describe which treatments, procedures and follow-up strategies are performed until the first appointment with a headache specialist. Patients from both sexes, ≥18 years old, which came to their first visit from March to July 2017 were included. Sociodemographic information, headache characteristics, diagnostic methods previously used, clinical history, family history and the treatments previously used were assessed in the first appointment with a specialist. Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and General Anxiety Disorder-7 were also applied. Descriptive analyses were performed to describe the sample profile and statistical tests were used to evaluate factors associated with the type of migraine (chronic or episodic). RESULTS: The sample consisted of 465 patients. On average, the pain started 17.1 (SD = 11.4) years before the first appointment with a headache specialist. Most of patients were classified as having chronic migraine (51.7%), with an average frequency of 15.5 (SD = 9.9) days per month. Regarding patients' journey until a specialist, most patients were submitted to laboratory tests (74.0%), cranial tomography (66.8%) and magnetic resonance imaging (66.8%) as diagnostic methods, and preventive drugs (70.2%) and acupuncture (61.0%) as treatments. After stratification by migraine type as episodic or chronic, patients with chronic migraine were submitted to more magnetic resonance imaging test, acupuncture, psychotherapy, used preventive drugs, and reported to have used topiramate without beneficial effects. CONCLUSIONS: Brazilian patients with migraine experiment a long journey until getting to a headache specialist and are submitted to a great number of unnecessary exams, especially those with chronic migraine.