Ck. Haddock et al., HOME-BASED BEHAVIORAL TREATMENTS FOR CHRONIC BENIGN HEADACHE - A METAANALYSIS OF CONTROLLED TRIALS, Cephalalgia, 17(2), 1997, pp. 113-118
Controlled clinical trials have consistently demonstrated that behavio
ral treatments for chronic benign headache produce clinically benefici
al outcomes both post-treatment and at follow-up. Given these results
there is interest in cost-reduction and redesign of these treatments t
o improve their accessibility. One promising approach in this regard i
s home-based headache treatment. These treatments seek to provide the
same amount of treatment as clinic-based treatments; however, some of
the material typically presented to the patient by a clinician is pres
ented through home-study materials (e.g., manuals, audiotapes). To dat
e, the published literature contains 20 controlled clinical trials whi
ch have examined the outcomes produced by home-based treatments. This
article presents the first comprehensive meta-analysis of these clinic
al outcome studies. Results of the quantitative analyses suggest that
home-based treatments produce comparable, or with certain outcome meas
ures, superior results to clinic-based treatments. Moreover, cost-effe
ctiveness scores of home-based treatments were found to be more than f
ive times larger than those of clinic-based therapies. Methodological
analyses are also presented along with suggestions for future research
.