Does relaxation treatment have differential effects on migraine and tension-type headache in adolescents?
The present study evaluated the effects of relaxation treatment in 36 adolescents aged 13 to 18 years (mean +/- SD, 15.4 +/- 1.55 years) suffering from migraine or migraine and tension-type headache as compared with a waiting-list condition group. The subjects rated various characteristics of migraine and tension-type headache in a diary. Significant reductions were found for total headache sum (P <.05) and intensity scores of total headache activity (P <.05) as well as for migraine intensity (P <.05) for subjects treated with relaxation as compared with those in the waiting-list condition group. However, no significant differences between the two groups were found for tension-type headache. Fifty percent of the adolescents treated with relaxation training attained a clinically significant improvement, compared with 12% of those in the waiting-list condition. It is suggested that treatment goals for migraine and migraine occurring with tension-type headache might be different and that relaxation training also might benefit from focusing on specific aspects of the two headache types.
Fichtel A
Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Section of Caring Sciences, Uppsala Science Park, Sweden.
Larsson
B
B
D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D012008:Recurrence; D012064:Relaxation Therapy; D013548:Sweden; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014850:Waiting Lists