Monitoring of adherence to headache treatments by means of hair analysis

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of hair analysis to monitor medication adherence in headache patients undergoing chronic therapy. For this purpose, the following parameters were analyzed: the detection rate of 23 therapeutic drugs in headache patients’ hair, the degree of agreement between the self-reported drug and the drug found in hair, and whether the levels found in hair reflected the drug intake reported by the patients. METHODS: The study included 93 patients suffering from primary headaches declaring their daily intake of at least one of the following drugs during the 3 months before the hair sampling: alprazolam, amitriptyline, citalopram, clomipramine, clonazepam, delorazepam, diazepam, duloxetine, fluoxetine, flurazepam, levomepromazine, levosulpiride, lorazepam, lormetazepam, mirtazapine, paroxetine, quetiapine, sertraline, topiramate, trazodone, triazolam, venlafaxine, and zolpidem. A detailed pharmacological history and a sample of hair were collected for each patient. Hair samples were analyzed by liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry, using a previously developed method. RESULTS: All 23 drugs were detected in the examined hair samples. The agreement between the self-reported drug and the drug found in hair was excellent for most analytes (P < 0.001, Cohen’s kappa); a statistically significant relationship (P < 0.05, linear regression analysis) between dose and hair level was found for amitriptyline, citalopram, delorazepam, duloxetine, lorazepam, and venlafaxine. CONCLUSIONS: Hair analysis proved to be a unique matrix to document chronic drug use in headache patients, and the level found for each individual drug can represent a reliable marker of adherence to pharmacological treatments. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00228-016-2163-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.