Journal
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY
Volume 23, Issue -, Pages 28-35Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/ene.12850
Keywords
brief intervention; chronic headache; general practice; migraine; quality of life
Categories
Funding
- University of Oslo
- Research Centre at Akershus University Hospital
- South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background and purpose: Medication-overuse headache (MOH) is common in the general population. Detoxification is the general treatment principle for MOH. The present paper is based on a study of a brief intervention (BI) for MOH in primary care. New data on headache disability and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for MOH patients compared to population controls with and without chronic headache are presented and compared to previously published main outcome data. Methods: This was a double-blind pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial carried out amongst 50 general practitioners in Norway. The BI was compared to business as usual (BAU) and population controls, and patients were followed up after 3 months. Primary outcomes were headache and medication days per month after 3 months. Headache disability and HADS were also measured as secondary outcomes. Results: Sixty MOH patients and 40 population controls were included. BI was significantly better than BAU after 3 months regarding primary outcomes. Nonintervention population controls did not change. The MOH patients had significantly higher headache disability and anxiety scores than the population controls. Conclusions: Patients with MOH are a highly disabled group where anxiety and depression are important comorbidities. Detoxification of MOH by a BI in primary care is effective and has potential for saving resources for more treatment-resistant cases in neurologist care.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available