Psychological treatment for headache. A pilot study on the efficacy of joint psychoeducational group and relaxation training

Headache is a severe and disabling chronic condition. Literature shows that psycho-educational interventions may be useful for several chronic pain disorders. We tested an integrated psycho-educational and relaxation intervention addressed to patients suffering from headache. The outcome indicators are a direct measure of headache (headache days per month) and two indirect measures (disability due to headache and medications used). At the end of the intervention patients also filled in a satisfaction questionnaire. Forty-seven subjects participated to the study. The treatment significantly reduced frequency of headache attacks (Wilcoxon p<0.01) and disability caused by headache (Wilcoxon p<0.001). There was also a sensible reduction in medication use. Almost all patients judged the intervention positively. An integrated approach may be very useful to ameliorate the burden of headache, to discontinue medication and to improve quality of life