Addressing the Migraine Care Needs of the LGBTQIA+ Patient Population: Anna Pace, MD

WATCH TIME: 6 minutes

"We have the opportunity as specialists to have them in our office and hear them and listen… that, in and of itself, can be incredibly therapeutic."

Patients with migraine who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community can experience unique barriers to care that could delay diagnosis and treatment, ultimately resulting in unmet patient needs. Findings from a recent research-based educational initiative showed that LGBTQIA+ patients face both social and structural barriers to migraine care, giving further insights into the different care aspects that could be targeted to create stronger patient-provider alliances through inclusive care practices.

Headache expert Anna Pace, MD, assistant professor of neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, presented more from these findings at the recently concluded 2025 American Headache Society (AHS) Annual Meeting, held June 19-22 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. During her presentation, she talked about the challenges, disparities, and unmet needs that patients of the LGBTQIA+ community with migraine experience in care. She also discussed strategies for improving LGBTQIA+ patient care and examined patient-centered approaches that promote equitable migraine care across diverse communities.

In a recent interview with NeurologyLive^® at AHS 2025, Pace underscored the heightened migraine burden among LGBTQIA+ individuals, which she noted may be exacerbated by stigma and delayed access to care because of prior discrimination. She emphasized the importance of fostering a therapeutic alliance through inclusive practices such as asking for preferred names and pronouns, creating safe clinical environments, and engaging patients in shared decision-making. Anna also stressed the value of open dialogue, active listening, and validating patients’ experiences as potential critical aspects of effective migraine care for this patient population.

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REFERENCES
1. Pace A. Examining Patient Experiences in Migraine Care Within the LGBTQI+ Community to Support Inclusive Care Environments. Presented at: 2025 AHS Annual Meeting; June 19-22; Minneapolis, MN. Scientific Abstracts 1 OR-07.

Editor’s Note: This initiative was developed by PRIME Education through educational grant support from Pfizer Inc. The grantor had no role in the study design, execution, analysis, or reporting