Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) when combined with preventive medications helps reducing migraines in children, a latest study by Ohio researchers say.
CBT is a type of psychotherapeutic treatment that makes the patients focus to understand their thoughts and feelings that generate their behaviors. It is widely used on patients suffering from phobia, addiction, depression, and anxiety.
For the study, the researchers at Headache Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Ohio, tested 135 children, aged between 10 and 17, with chronic migraines. These children complained of migraines for at least 15 days in a month and were monitored by the researchers from 2006 to 2012.
The participants also scored over 20 points on Pediatric Migraine Disability Assessment (PedMIDAS) that indicated "moderate disability" in them.
The researchers divided the children into two groups - CBT with medication (1 mg/day of amitriptyline) and headache education with medication.
The researchers found that children from CBT with medication group showed reduction in headaches. They had a decrease of "11.5 headache days when compared with 6.8 days with headache education."
The study authors also found that the PedMIDAS score also improved for the CBT children. It decreased by 52.7 points compared to 38.6 points of the education group, Medscape reported.
"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 Scott Powers told MedScape.
The study was published in the December 24 issue of JAMA.
