Mindfulness and Migraine— Mindfulness and pharmacological prophylaxis after withdrawal from medication overuse in patients with Chronic Migraine: an effectiveness trial with a one-year follow-up.

MINDFULNESS AND MIGRAINE — Chronic migraine (CM) is a disabling condition, which worsens when associated with medication overuse (MO). Mindfulness is an emerging technique, effective in different conditions, but has not yet been explored for CM-MO. The results of a study evaluating the one-year evolution of patients’ condition are presented, with the hypothesis that the efficacy of a mindfulness-based approach would be similar to that of conventional prophylactic treatments.

METHOD
Patients with CM-MO (International Classification of Headache Disorders-3Beta codes 1.3 and 8.2) completed an abstinence programme in a daytime inpatient setting. After abstinence, patients received prophylactic medication treatment (Med group) or participated in mindfulness-based training (MT group). Headache diaries, headache impact test (HIT-6), brain impairment assessment (MIDAS), state and traumatic anxiety (STAIY1-Y2) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were measured before withdrawal and at each follow-up (3, 6 and 12 after withdrawal) for patients in both groups. Outcome variables were analysed in two-way mixed ANOVAs (Group: Mindfulness vs. Pharmacology and Time: Baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months follow-up). months follow-up).
RESULTS
A total of 44 patients participated in the study, with an average of 44.5, an average of 20.5 headaches per month and an average of 18.4 tablets per month. The data revealed a similar improvement over time in both groups in terms of headache frequency (a reduction of approximately 6-8 days), medication use (a reduction of approximately 7 intakes), MIDAS, HIT-6 (but only in theMED group) and BDI; no changes were found in state and traumatic anxiety. The majority of patients in each group no longer met current CCM criteria.

Taken together, our results suggest that the evolution over time of patients in the MT-Group, who were not prescribed medical prophylaxis, was substantially similar to that of patients who were given medical prophylaxis.