J Korean Med Sci.  2009 Oct;24(5):936-940. 10.3346/jkms.2009.24.5.936.

Effect of Biofeedback-assisted Autogenic Training on Headache Activity and Mood States in Korean Female Migraine Patients

• Kang EH
• Park JE
• Chung CS
• Yu BH

• KMID: 1782018
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2009.24.5.936

Abstract

Biofeedback with or without combined autogenic training is known to be effective for the treatment of migraine. This study aimed to examine the effect of biofeedback treatment on headache activity, anxiety, and depression in Korean female patients with migraine headache. Patients were randomized into the treatment group (n=17) and monitoring group (n=15). Mood states including anxiety and depression, and psychophysiological variables such as mean skin temperature of the patients were compared with those of the normal controls (n=21). We found greater treatment response rate (defined as > or =50% reduction in headache index) in patients with biofeedback-assisted autogenic training than in monitoring group. The scores on the anxiety and depression scales in the patients receiving biofeedback-assisted autogenic training decreased after the biofeedback treatment. Moreover, the decrease in their anxiety levels was significantly related to the treatment outcome. This result suggests that the biofeedback-assisted autogenic training is effective for the treatment of migraine and its therapeutic effect is closely related to the improvement of the anxiety level.

Keyword

Migraine; Biofeedback; Autogenic Training; Anxiety; Depression

MeSH Terms

Adult
*Affect
Analysis of Variance
Anxiety
Autogenic Training/*methods
Biofeedback, Psychology/*methods
Body Temperature
Depression
Female
Humans
Migraine Disorders/*therapy
Republic of Korea
Severity of Illness Index

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Greater treatment response rate (defined as ≥50% reduction in headache index) was observed in patients with biofeedback-assisted autogenic training than in monitoring-only group (58.9% vs. 20%, χ2=4.979, d=1, P=0.029).

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  Fig. 2 Mood states by treatment group (Biofeedback-assisted autogenic training group vs. monitoring-only group). There were significant interactions between the two groups in changes of the HAM-A (F=10.560, P=0.003), HAM-D (F=8.161, P=0.013), and STAI-S (F=12.320, P=0.002). Post hoc analyses revealed that there were significant differences at the endpoint between the two groups in all the mood states (all P values <0.1).

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