This proposed study seeks to examine whether adding an aerobic exercise prescription to a behavioral treatment program for chronic headaches will improve headache frequency and intensity, headache-related disability, and mood. It is hypothesized that participants who receive the exercise prescription at the start of treatment will show greater gains than those who receive the prescription halfway through treatment. It is also predicted that participants who begin the exercise component halfway through treatment will demonstrate greater improvement in the second half of treatment compared to the first half.
Aerobic exercise has long been discussed as a potential treatment for chronic headaches, though research in this area has been somewhat limited. It is warranted to consider the effectiveness of aerobic exercise as part of a larger headache management intervention. Early research in this area suggests that including an exercise component in conjunction with other effective forms of headache management, such as progressive muscle relaxation, biofeedback, and stress management, is associated with improvement in number of days with a headache, headache pain intensity and mood. None of these studies have specifically analyzed the effectiveness of the aerobic exercise component, though Lemestra et al. (2002) noted that participants who continued with their exercise regimen had better overall outcomes three months after the intervention ended. Given the high rates of obesity and the fact that many people do not meet the minimum daily requirement for exercise, it is worthwhile to investigate the additive effect of exercise to behavioral headache interventions.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
5
This behavioral treatment program consists of behavioral approaches to headache management: progressive muscle relaxation, stress-management training, and biofeedback. Skills for these techniques are presented during the clinic sessions, and supplemented with workbooks and audio CDs. In addition, all participants will receive a graduated exercise prescription of 20-30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, five days per week. They will be instructed to assess the intensity of their exercise using the Borg perceived exertion scale. Client contact sessions are as follows: Clinic Session (CS)1; Phone Session (PS) 1 (end of week1), CS 2 (end of week 4); PS 2 (end of week 6); CS 3 (end of week 8).
University of Mississippi Medical Center
Jackson, Mississippi, United States
Patient-reported headache-free days per week
Patients are asked to report the number of days per week they do no experience headaches
Time frame: 2 weeks prior to treatment through 2 weeks post-treatment
Headache Disability Index (HDI)
HDI is a 25-item questionnaire that assesses headache-related functional and emotional disability in chronic headache sufferers. Participants respond to items using a 3-point scale: "yes," "sometimes," or "no."
Time frame: baseline, 8 weeks, 10 weeks
Highest weekly headache intensity
Patients are asked to report the the intensity of their worst headache during the past week, using a 0 (pain-free) to 10 (extremely intense pain) scale.
Time frame: 2 weeks prior to treatment through 2 weeks post-treatment
Composite Depression/Anxiety Screening Scale (PHQ-4)
This is a 4-item measure assessing symptoms of anxiety and depression in the past two weeks. Participants respond on a 4 point scale: 0=Not at all; 1=Several days; 2=More than half of the days; 3=Nearly every day. When this measure is administered during the course of treatment (weekly) participants will be asked to respond based on their experiences in the past week.
Time frame: 2 weeks prior to treatment through 2 weeks follow-up
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