News in brief - Sept. 1, 2003

Aging boomers seeking more care - Simplified migraine screening

Aging boomers seeking more care

Seniors and older baby boomers are visiting their physicians more often to manage multiple chronic conditions, obtain newly available drugs and seek preventive care.

More than half of patients visiting doctors in 2001 were older than 45, according to the latest annual report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. In 1992, 42% of patients visiting physicians' offices were 45 or older.

The leading primary diagnoses for visits in 2001 included high blood pressure, arthritis and related joint disorders, colds and diabetes. Visits for diabetes went up 63% between 1992 and 2001, accounting for 27 million physician visits in 2001.

A separate study by the CDC reported that the majority of U.S. adults did not get enough physical activity in 2000 and 2001, leading to the probability that there will be even more visits to physicians' offices for hypertension and diabetes as well as heart disease and colon cancer.

The CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System found that most people in the United States do not engage in 30 minutes of moderately intense activity on most days of the week as recommended in federal guidelines.

Simplified migraine screening

A simple, three-question test can identify patients with migraines with about the same accuracy as widely used screening tests for other illnesses, according to a study in the August issue of Neurology.

Patients answering yes to two of the three test questions could be effectively identified as experiencing migraines, said the study's authors. The questions were: Has a headache limited your activities for a day or more in the last three months? Are you nauseated or sick to your stomach when you have a headache? Does light bother you when you have a headache?

About 28 million Americans are estimated to have migraines, but less than half have ever been diagnosed by a physician, said the study authors.

The three-question test was dubbed "ID Migraine" and is recommended for use in primary care settings. "ID Migraine is very easy to use for both patients and doctors, and we hope it will prompt patients to talk to their primary care doctors to get diagnosed and to receive treatments that will relieve their pain and improve their ability to function," said lead author Richard B. Lipton, MD, professor and vice chair of neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.