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Use of digital treatment is helpful in improving therapy compliance and reducing possible complications such as medication overuse headache.
The digital treatment control for
therapy decisions devised by the physician is highly relevant and
established. Therapy compliance is improved and possible
complications like a headache because of medication overuse are
decreased, as explained in a recently published study in 'The
pain'.
After dental caries, tension-type
headache and migraine are the second and third most widespread
disorders worldwide. The extensive use of smartphones allows the use
of particular software applications (apps) for digital treatment
accompaniment. Around 90,000 medical-oriented apps focusing on a
health purpose, wellness, fitness or nutritional optimization are
already available.
Gobel H et al. has investigated the use of the migraine app (Migräne-App) for iOS and Android for the effective treatment of migraine and headache patients in an extensive population sample.An online survey was initiated for the analysis of experiences as part of the treatment accompaniment and app usage. This survey comprised of questions regarding the sociodemographic variables, the course of headache disorders and previous treatment along with the usage of migraine app. The survey indicates compliance with the recommended treatment, treatment plan, and treatment rules made by the treating physician. The data collected was distinguished from the traditional pen and paper documentation before using the migraine app. All in all, 1464 users participated in the standardized survey with an average age of 47.19 ± 11.37 years (87.4% being female and 12.5% being male). The users suffered from headaches for 27.28 ± 13.6 years on average, with the majority (76.5%) being cared for by the general practitioner.
Out of the total users, 70.9% described that they presented the aggregated data from the app to their physician on consultation and 76.4% described that the migraine app helped them to stick to the treatment plan designed together with their physician and rules about headache therapy. A highly significant decline in headache days per months before usage (13.30 ± 7.45 days) as compared to at the time of conducting the survey (10.03 ± 7.30 days) was observed. A highly notable reduction of intake of acute medication (before 7.61 ± 5.58 vs ongoing 6.78 ± 4.72 days) was also seen. "A significant improvement of headache parameters and marked overall improvement of treatment quality, amongst other things because of more readily available information and self-help tools can be observed ", culminated the study authors.
The pain
Healthcare behaviour of migraine and headache patients when treatment is accompanied by the digital migraine app
Gobel H et al.
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