Medication overuse headache in Europe and Latin America: general demographic and clinical characteristics, referral pathways and national distribution of painkillers in a descriptive, multinational, multicenter study

Table 2 Referral pathway and financing of healthcare costs for patients

	Denmark	Germany	Italy	Spain	Argentina	Chile
Referral pathways
Referral needed for headache specialist consultation	Yes	No	Yes or self-refer on private basis	Yes	No	No
Who are able to refer the patients to a headache specialist?	GP^a	–	GP	GP	–	–
	Other specialists			Other specialists
	ER^a			ER
	Other doctors
Referral needed for emergency room visits	No	No	No	No	No	No
Financing of healthcare costs for patients
Free Access	GP	GP	GP	GP	–	GP
	Headache Specialist	Headache Specialist	Headache Specialist^b	Headache Specialist		–
	ER	ER	ER^c	ER		ER
	EEG, MR-, CT-scan and X-rays	EEG, MR-, CT-scan and X-rays	EEG^b, MR-^d, CT-scan^d and X-rays^e	EEG, MR-, CT-scan and X-rays		MR-, CT-scan and X-rays
Private healthcare assurance	–	–	–	–	GP	GP
					Headache Specialist	Headache Specialist
					ER	ER
					EEG, MR-, CT-scan and X-rays	EEG, MR-, CT-scan and X-rays
Out of own pocket	–	–	–	–	–	GP
			Headache Specialist^b		Headache Specialist	Headache Specialist
			ER^c		–	ER
			EEG^b, MR-^d, CT-scan^d and X-rays^d		–	EEG, MR-, CT-scan and X-rays

GP general practitioner, ER emergency room, EEG electro encephalogram, CT computer tomography scan, MR magnetic resonance scan
^aReferral after a relevant therapy course performed by a general neurologist
^bPatients < 6 years or > 65 years are exempted for covering the healthcare costs. Without exemption contribution is required according to income
^cFree access if appropriate request (real emergency)
^dPatients < 6 years or > 65 years are exempted for covering the healthcare costs. Without exemption contribution is required depending on income
Free access = government covers the costs

ISSN: 1129-2377