Effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy based on the pain sustainment/exacerbation model in patients with...

The purpose of this study was to carry out a program of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) based on the pain sustainment/exacerbation model for tension-type headache (TTH) patients and to examine the effectiveness as a pilot study. The participants were 4 TTH patients who consulted the outpatient clinic of a university hospital. It consisted of 4 individualized sessions as CBT program (including psychological education, self-monitoring, relaxation technique, cognitive restricting and exposure), and a follow-up examination was carried out 1 month after its completion. The sessions, each of which was 60 minutes long, were executed at weekly intervals. As a result, the score of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) decreased after program compared with before program in all patients. The score of escape/avoidance was also reduced at the post-program and follow-up (1 month later) compared with the score of pre-program in patients except Case 2, in whom the score was 0 throughout the study. The degree of the Headache Impact Test (HIT-6) improved by program and changed to "mild" or "none" in all participants. These findings show that in patients with TTH this short CBT program has effect on pain catastrophizing, escape/avoidance and daily disability.