Effectiveness of manual therapy for chronic tension-type headache: A pragmatic, randomised, clinical trial

René F. Castien, Daniëlle A.W.M. Van Der Windt, Anneke Grooten, Joost Dekker

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of manual therapy (MT) in participants with chronic tension-type headache (CTTH). Subjects and Methods: We conducted a multicentre, pragmatic, randomised, clinical trial with partly blinded outcome assessment. Eighty-two participants with CTTH were randomly assigned to MT or to usual care by the general practitioner (GP). Primary outcome measures were frequency of headache and use of medication. Secondary outcome measures were severity of headache, disability and cervical function. Results: After 8 weeks (n = 80) and 26 weeks (n = 75), a significantly larger reduction of headache frequency was found for the MT group (mean difference at 8 weeks,-6.4 days; 95% CI-8.3 to-4.5; effect size, 1.6). Disability and cervical function showed significant differences in favour of the MT group at 8 weeks but were not significantly different at 26 weeks. Conclusions: Manual therapy is more effective than usual GP care in the short-and longer term in reducing symptoms of CTTH. Dutch Trial Registration no. TR 1074. © International Headache Society 2011.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)133-143
Number of pages11
JournalCephalalgia
Volume31
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2011

Keywords

  • Manual therapy
  • RCT
  • chronic tension type headache
  • usual care

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effectiveness of manual therapy for chronic tension-type headache: A pragmatic, randomised, clinical trial'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this