A new study suggests that cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) is more effective in reducing migraines on kids when paired with preventive medications.
Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapeutic treatment that focuses on making the patients understand their thoughts and feelings that triggers their behaviors. It is commonly used on patients suffering from phobia, addiction, depression, and anxiety.
Migraine is a common disorder which affects 3.5 to 5 percent of all children. Symptoms vary on the age of the child: infants are usually seen banging their head, pre-school children showing pain and wanting to go back to sleep, while older children complain of increasing headache. Current treatment includes headache education, medication, and prophylaxis for some.
Researchers from the Headache Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in Ohio led by Dr. Scott Powers attempted to introduce a new way to treat migraines on kids which aims to stop it before it begins.
The researchers recruited 135 children aged 10 to 17 years old with chronic migraines. These children complain of experiencing the pain at least 15 days in a month. They also scored over 20 points on Pediatric Migraine Disability Assessment (PedMIDAS) which indicates “moderate disability.”
The participants were divided into two groups: CBT with medication (1 mg/day of amitriptyline) and headache education with medication. They were monitored between October 2006 and September 2012.
After the follow-up period, the researchers found that those who had CBT with medication experienced a reduction of an average of 11.5 days of headache in a month compared to the second group who had 6.8 days only.
Even the PedMIDAS results showed that the CBT group decreased by 52.7 points compared to 38.6 points of the education group.
"The trial demonstrates that cognitive behavioral therapy has a clinically meaningful impact on outcomes, with almost 9 of 10 participants with measured changes in headache days and disability that meet internationally recommended benchmarks for successful interventions — 50% or more reduction in headache days and disability reduced to a little to none level — by the end of follow-up," Dr. Powers told MedScape.
The study was published in the December 24 issue of JAMA.