Migraine is a highly prevalent neurological disorder and one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, substantially affecting quality of life and individuals during their most productive years. Chronic migraine, defined as headache occurring on ≥15 days per month for more than three months, is a particularly disabling form of the disease. Physical inactivity, unhealthy dietary behaviors, stress, sleep disturbances, risky substance use, and inadequate social support may contribute to the burden and chronification of migraine. The CALM-Migraine trial aims to investigate the effects of a comprehensive lifestyle-based intervention in individuals with chronic migraine. Participants will be randomly assigned to either a lifestyle intervention group or a wait-list control group. Participants allocated to the lifestyle intervention group will receive an 8-week comprehensive lifestyle intervention alongside their usual pharmacological treatment. The intervention will consist of supervised exercise training, structured patient education, and peer support sessions delivered under the supervision of a physiotherapist. It will address the six pillars of lifestyle medicine: physical activity, diet, mental health and stress management, sleep, risky substance use, and social connections. The study will evaluate the intervention's effects on migraine-related clinical outcomes, neuroinflammatory biomarkers, health-related lifestyle behaviors, body composition, autonomic nervous system function, cognitive function, self-efficacy, and quality of life. Participants will be followed after the intervention to assess whether the effects are maintained over time.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
30
Participants allocated to the lifestyle intervention group will receive an 8-week comprehensive lifestyle intervention alongside their usual pharmacological treatment. The intervention will consist of 24 individual, face-to-face sessions delivered three times per week under a physiotherapist's supervision. The intervention will address the six pillars of lifestyle medicine: physical activity, diet, mental health and stress management, sleep, risky substance use, and social connections. It will include three main components: supervised exercise training, structured patient education, and peer support sessions.
Hacettepe University Faculty of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation
Ankara, Turkey (Türkiye)
Migraine severity
Migraine severity will be assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). For each migraine attack, participants will indicate pain intensity on a 10-cm horizontal line anchored from "no pain" to "worst imaginable pain." The distance from the left endpoint to the participant's mark will be measured in centimeters, with higher values indicating greater migraine severity. Participants will prospectively record migraine severity for each attack in a migraine diary throughout the study.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Average Attack Duration
Average migraine attack duration will be determined using prospectively recorded migraine diary data. Participants will record each migraine attack duration in hours, and the average attack duration will be calculated for the relevant assessment period.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Total Number of Attacks
Participants will prospectively record each migraine attack using a migraine diary throughout the study. The diary records will determine the total number of migraine attacks for each relevant assessment period.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS)
Migraine-related disability will be assessed using the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) questionnaire. The MIDAS total score is calculated by summing the first five items, which assess the number of days with missed or reduced productivity at work or school, in household activities, and in social or leisure activities during the previous 3 months. Higher total scores indicate greater migraine-related disability.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) Level
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
NOD-Like Receptor Family Pyrin Domain Containing 3 (NLRP3) Level
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Objective Physical Activity Measurement (ActiGraph LEAP™ Activity Monitor)
Physical activity outcomes will include step count, sedentary time (ST), light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA).
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Consumption of Migraine-Triggering Foods and Associated Headache Severity
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Healthy Eating Index-2020 (HEI-2020)
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10)
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Objective Sleep Measurement (ActiGraph LEAP™ Activity Monitor)
Objective sleep outcomes will include total sleep time, sleep latency, and sleep efficiency.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)
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Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS)
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Risky Substance Use
Risky substance use will be assessed based on smoking exposure (pack-years) and alcohol consumption (drinks/week).
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS)
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Body Composition (Tanita MC-780-MA Body Composition Analyzer)
Body composition outcomes will include body weight, body fat percentage, fat mass, fat-free mass, and skeletal muscle mass.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
HRV outcomes will include mean RR interval, SDNN, RMSSD, pNN50, low-frequency (LF) power, high-frequency (HF) power, and the LF/HF ratio.
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Task-Specific Cognitive Assessment
Computerized Stroop and N-Back Tasks
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Chronic Headache Self-Efficacy Scale (CHASE)
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)
Migraine Specific Quality of Life Questionaire version 2.1 (MSQ v2.1)
Time frame: Baseline (T0), post-intervention at 8 weeks (T1), 3 months after baseline (T2), and 6 months after baseline (T3)