title: Home-based behavioral treatments for chronic benign headache: a meta-analysis of controlled trials.
abstract: Controlled clinical trials have consistently demonstrated that behavioral treatments for chronic benign headache produce clinically beneficial outcomes both post-treatment and at follow-up. Given these results there is interest in cost-reduction and redesign of these treatments to improve their accessibility. One promising approach in this regard is home-based headache treatment. These treatments seek to provide the same amount of treatment as clinic-based treatments; however, some of the material typically presented to the patient by a clinician is presented through home-study materials (e.g., manuals, audiotapes). To date, the published literature contains 20 controlled clinical trials which have examined the outcomes produced by home-based treatments. This article presents the first comprehensive meta-analysis of these clinical outcome studies. Results of the quantitative analyses suggest that home-based treatments produce comparable, or with certain outcome measures, superior results to clinic-based treatments. Moreover, costeffectiveness scores of home-based treatments were found to be more than five times larger than those of clinic-based therapies. Methodological analyses are also presented along with suggestions for future research.
authors.affiliation: Wilford Hall Medical Center, San Antonio, TX 78236-5300, USA.
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Haddock
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Rowan
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Andrasik
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Talcott
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Stein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000628:therapy*; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged