Trends in the real-world management of cluster headache patients treated by subcutaneous sumatriptan and/or oxygen in France – An analysis of the French National Social Security System Open Data over eleven years (2014-2024)

The burden of cluster headache (CH) requires better knowledge of management to improve it.

Objectives: To describe changes in the real-world management of CH treated with subcutaneous sumatriptan and/or oxygen in France over the period 2014-2024.

Methods: This is an analysis of two open data databases from the French Social Health Insurance ('Open Medic' and 'Open LPP'), providing an annual estimate from 2014 to 2024 of the delivery of subcutaneous sumatriptan and/or oxygen, the number of beneficiaries of these treatments and their socio-demographic profile.

Results: Annual deliveries of subcutaneous sumatriptan increased from 286,999 boxes in 2014 to 454,275 boxes in 2024 (58.2% increase). Beneficiaries of subcutaneous sumatriptan increased from 13,638 individuals in 2014 to 19,109 individuals in 2024 (40.1% increase). Annual deliveries of package for the weekly use of oxygen therapy equipment increased from 224,143 in 2014 to 790,768 in 2024 (2.5 times more). Beneficiaries of oxygen for CH increased from 7493 individuals in 2014 to 22,346 individuals in 2024 (2 times more). Over the period 2014-2024, the male to female ratio decreased from 2.3/1 to 1.5/1 and from 1.5/1 to 0.8/1 for individuals receiving subcutaneous sumatriptan and individuals receiving oxygen respectively.

Conclusions: The delivery of subcutaneous sumatriptan and oxygen increased from 2014 to 2024, reflecting an improvement in the management of cluster headache in France. Nevertheless, given the one year-prevalence of this disease and the number of people expected to suffer from it, the number of people benefiting from these two treatments in 2024 indicates that there are still unmet needs. This study confirms the increase in the number of women treated for cluster headache observed over the last twenty years.