A COMPARISON OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF PEDIATRIC MIGRAINE

A comparison was carried out of the efficacy of psychological and drug treatments for children with migraine. Forty-three children aged betw een 8 and 16 years (mean age: 11.3 years) who suffered from migraine r eceived either progressive relaxation or cephalic vasomotor feedback, both with stress management training, or metoprolol, a beta-blocker. P sychological treatment was administered in ten sessions lasting six we eks and the drug treatment lasted ten weeks. Relaxation and stress man agement training reduced the headache index (frequency x intensity of headache episodes), more effectively than metoprolol with cephalic vas omotor feedback and stress management training in between. An overall improvement over time was found with regard to frequency and intensity of headache episodes and analgesics intake, When comparing pre- to po st-treatment data, children treated with relaxation training improved significantly in headache frequency and intensity, whereas those treat ed with cephalic vasomotor feedback improved significantly in headache frequency and duration as well as mood. The clinical improvement was stable at an 8-months follow-up. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All ri ghts reserved.