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Cognitive-behavioral group treatment for disabling headache.

Justin M Nash¹, Elyse R Park, Barbara B Walker

¹Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, Brown Medical School and The Miriam Hospital, Lifespan Academic Medical Center, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, USA. Justin_Nash@Brown.edu

Pain Medicine (Malden, Mass.)

|June 24, 2004

Summary

Cognitive-behavioral group treatment significantly improved headache frequency, intensity, and duration for individuals with disabling headaches. This approach reduced medication use and enhanced quality of life for many participants.

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Area of Science:

Neurology
Behavioral Science
Health Services Research

Background:

Severe, disabling headaches impose significant costs on individuals and society.
Standard treatments, including prophylactic agents and triptans, are insufficient for many.
Psychological and behavioral factors play a crucial role in chronic headache management.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral group treatment for chronic, disabling headaches.
To assess if this group format offers an intensive, cost-effective clinic-based intervention.
To evaluate improvements in headache symptoms, medication use, and quality of life.

Main Methods:

Development and piloting of a 10-session cognitive-behavioral group treatment program.

Related Experiment Videos

Study conducted at an academic medical center's behavioral headache management program.

Involved 62 individuals with moderate to severe primary headache disorder, assessed pre- and post-treatment.

Main Results:

Significant improvements observed in headache frequency, intensity, duration, and quality of life.
Reduced symptomatic medication use was noted post-treatment.
Fifty percent of participants achieved at least a 50% reduction in headache frequency.

Conclusions:

Clinic-based, group-format cognitive-behavioral treatment shows preliminary effectiveness for disabling headaches.
The intervention successfully decreased headache activity and symptomatic medication reliance.
Improved quality of life was a key outcome for participants in the study.