Validation and Clinical Utilization of Headache Information Diary (HID) among Subjects with Cervicogenic Headache

Abstract

Introduction: Around 95% of the general population have experienced headache at some stage in their life with 1-year prevalence of nearly one in two adults worldwide. The IHS has validated cervicogenic headache as a secondary headache that is hypothesized to originate due to nociception in the cervical area.

Objectives: The aim of this research is to develop a Headache Information Diary for evaluation of subjects with cervicogenic headache, and to analyse the clinical application of this tool among subjects with Cervicogenic headache.

Methods: A delphi method was adopted for this research, and was performed in two phases. In phase 1, the cognitive, psychological and social domains are used to develop a diary with help of the details collected from patients through formal interviews. In phase 2, the validation of the tool was done by experts in the field neurology, focussed on content validity analysis. The cognitive interview conducted with help of this tool found minimal assessment error and minimal detectable change.

Results: The final tool, Headache Information Diary, addressed headache frequency, disability, medication use and effect, patients’ perceptions of headache “control”, and their understanding of their diagnoses. The literature review found few instruments linking assessment to clinical advice or suggested actions, Headache Information Diary appeared to fill this gap.

Conclusions: With demonstrated validity and clinical utility on Headache Information Diary in cervicogenic headache, we suggest this tool for clinical and research purposes in patient populations suffering with headache.