Systematic review of randomized clinical trials of complementary/alternative therapies in the treatment of tension-type and cervicogenic headache.
OBJECTIVE
To conduct a systematic review of the randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) of complementary/alternative (CAM) therapies in the treatment of non-migrainous headache (i.e. excluding migraine, cluster and organic headaches).


METHODS
Systematic review with quality scoring and evidence tables.


METHODS
Number of RCTs per therapy, quality scores, evidence tables.


RESULTS
Twenty-four RCTs were identified in the categories of acupuncture, spinal manipulation, electrotherapy, physiotherapy, homeopathy and other therapies. Headache categories included tension-type (under various names pre-1988), cervicogenic and post-traumatic. Quality scores for the RCT reports ranged from approximately 30 to 80 on a 100 point scale.


CONCLUSIONS
RCTs for CAM therapies of the treatment of non-migrainous headache exist in the literature and demonstrate that clinical experimental studies of these forms of headache can be conducted. Evidence from a sub-set of high quality studies indicates that some CAM therapies may be useful in the treatment of these common forms of headache.
Vernon
H
H
Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, Toronto, Canada.
McDermaid
C S
CS
Hagino
C
C
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000503:physiopathology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000379:methods*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006261:Headache / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020393:Manipulation, Spinal; D010147:Pain Measurement; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome