Video consultations in medication overuse headache. A randomized controlled trial

To test the hypothesis that the effect of video consultations is noninferior to traditional consultations in managing patients with overuse headache (MOH).

Patients were recruited from referrals to a neurological clinic. In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), headache burden measured by headache impact test (HIT-6) and frequency of headache days <15 per month and visual analogue pain scale (VAS) at baseline, 3 months and 1 year were compared between groups consulted by video- (n = 51) and traditional consultations (n = 51) in a post hoc analysis.

The overall response rate was 74.5%. HIT-6 changed from 66.3 (SD = 4.7) to 60.0 (SD = 9.1) from baseline to 12 months in participants randomized to video consultations and from 65.8 (SD = 3.7) to 58.4 (SD = 8.3) in the group consulted traditionally (95% CI -2.3 to 6.5, p = 0.44). Frequency of headache days <15 per month at 1-year follow-up were 9 (23.1%) respectively 10 (27.0%), p = 0.60. In the video group, VAS improved by 2.3 points compared to 2.4 in the traditional group from baseline to 12 months (95% CI -1.2 to 1.2, p = 0.76). Analyses of repeated measurements comparing HIT-6 and VAS over two points of time in the two groups were insignificant.

The effect of video consultations is noninferior to traditional consultations in managing MOH patients. Using video may be a good alternative in consulting patients with MOH.