(228) Trends of Triptans Use in Hungary

Background: Triptans are the first-line medication recommended to relieve migraine attacks. However, migraines are frequently under diagnosed, while patients who regularly use triptans may run the risk of developing medication overuse headaches. The scale of triptan use in Hungary has not been revealed before.

Objectives: To assess the trends of triptan use in the Hungarian ambulatory care sector between 2012-2021

Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional, longitudinal study was conducted between 2012 and 2021 in Hungary. Population based drug utilisation sales data were obtained on triptans (ATC code: N02C) medications. Utilisation metrics were calculated based on the WHO defined ATC/DDD methodology (version 2023). Triptan utilisation was expressed as DDD per 1000 inhabitants and per day (DID). National and regional level analysis were also performed.

Results: The triptans use in the Hungarian ambulatory care sector ranged between 0.13 to 0.33 DID during the study period. The utilisation of triptans, particularly sumatriptan and eletriptan, has shown an increase over the years. Sumatriptan had DID values of 0.09 and 0.21 in 2012 and 2021 (136.85% increase in use), respectively, while eletriptan had DID values of 0.04 and 0.08 in the same years (117.13 % increase in use). In 2012, sumatriptan, eletriptan, and zolmitriptan were the most used triptans, with percental shares of 68.61%, 29.13%, and 2.26% respectively. Meanwhile, in 2021, the top triptan agents were sumatriptan (65.96%), eletriptan (25.68%), and rizatriptan (8.36%). Large interregional differences were detected in all study years: maximum/minimum ratio ranged between 2.68 in 2021 and 3.88 in 2012. Regionally, Budapest had the highest DID value in 2021 (0.49), while Nograd County had the lowest (0.18) in 2021.

Conclusions: There is an increasing trend of triptans use in Hungary between 10-year period. However, the low utilization number may indicate the underuse of triptans in Hungary.