title: Systematic review of randomized clinical trials of complementary/alternative therapies in the treatment of tension-type and cervicogenic headache.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vernon
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: McDermaid
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hagino
mesh_terms: 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