Migraine Experts Discuss Study of Children With Continuous Headache

Post Date: May 15, 2024 | Publish Date: March 19, 2024

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Drs. Gibler and Reidy discuss recent research findings on video call

A notable percentage of youth with continuous headache report some improvements in headache status within 3–4 months after receiving multidisciplinary biopsychosocial treatment, according to a recent study led by experts at Cincinnati Children’s.

The leading co-authors of the study–Robert Gibler, PhD, and Brooke Reidy, PhD–discussed the findings May 9, 2024, with Rashmi B. Halker Singh, MD, Deputy Editor of Headache: The Journal of Head and Facial Pain.

Watch the discussion

Among the findings gleaned from following this rarely-studied population:

The percentage of youth reporting little to no pain grew from 4% to 20% by their third check-in with clinicians.
As expected, use of preventive medications increased among many of the patients, and some increase occurred in use of devices.
Meanwhile, usage of other non-pharmacological treatments declined over time.

While finding it “hopeful” that a subset of youth with continuous headache reported improvement, “continuous headache is a phenomenon we want to learn a lot more about,” Reidy says.

Cincinnati Children’s co-authors included Scott Powers, PhD, Andrew Hershey MD, PhD, Marielle Kabbouche, MD, and Joanne Kacperski, MD. Contributors also included Kaelynn Knestrick, BA, BS, Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University.

Publication Information

Original title:	Preliminary prospective observational investigation of clinical outcomes among treatment-seeking youth with continuous headache
Published in:	Headache
Publish date:	March 19, 2024

Read the study