Outcome Measures for Assessing the Effectiveness
Outcome Measures for Assessing the Effectiveness of Non-pharmacological Interventions in Frequent Episodic or Chronic Migraine: A Delphi Study
SOURCE: BMJ Open. 2020 (Feb 12); 10 (2): e029855
Kerstin Luedtke, Annika Basener, Stephanie Bedei, Rene Castien, Aleksander Chaibi, et al
Pain and Exercise Research,
Universitat zu Lubeck Sektion Medizin,
Lubeck, Germany
kerstin.luedtke@uni-luebeck.de
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this Delphi survey was to establish an international consensus on the most useful outcome measures for research on the effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions for migraine. This is important, since guidelines for pharmacological trials recommend measuring the frequency of headaches with 50% reduction considered a clinically meaningful effect. It is unclear whether the same recommendations apply to complementary (or adjunct) non-pharmacological approaches, whether the same cut-off levels need to be considered for effectiveness when used as an adjunct or stand-alone intervention, and what is meaningful to patients.
SETTING: University-initiated international survey.
PARTICIPANTS: The expert panel was chosen based on publications on non-pharmacological interventions in migraine populations and from personal contacts. 35 eligible researchers were contacted, 12 agreed to participate and 10 completed all 3 rounds of the survey. To further explore how migraine patients viewed potential outcome measures, four migraine patients were interviewed and presented with the same measurement tools as the researchers.
PROCEDURES: The initial Delphi round was based on a systematic search of the literature for outcome measures used in non-pharmacological interventions for headache.
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