ACT Therapy for HF Migraine

Summary

The aim is to compare the effectiveness of a behavioral treatment, the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, provided as an add-on to the prophylactic treatment (treatment as usual-TaU) against TaU only on the reduction of monthly headaches frequency over 12 months in a sample of patients with high-frequency migraine without aura (i.e. reporting 9-14 days with headache per month in the previous three months).

ACT will be provided in small groups (5-7 patients each) by specifically trained therapists. The ACT consists in 6 weekly sessions, 90 minutes each, and 2 supplementary "booster" sessions, at two and four weeks after the conclusion of the weekly session. The main focus of the six ACT session will be the following: 1) Creative helplessness: the problem of control; 2) Identifying values: introduction to Mindfulness; 3) Actions guided by values: working with thought; 4) Working with Acceptance and Willingness; 5) Committed Actions: self-as-context; 6) Integration: working with obstacles - wrap-up. The booster session starts with a mindfulness exercise, followed by a review of the contents covered across the ACT program.

TaU will consist of education of patients, followed by pharmacological prophylaxis. Prophylaxis is prescribed based on patients' profile, such as previous failures, contraindications and so on by a neurologist with expertise in headache treatments and limited to Topiramate, Propanolol, Amytriptiline or Calcium channel blockers.

The study will be a Phase II Trial; randomized, Open-Label; Multicenter study. Patients will be randomized 1:1 to the two groups: 64 patients (32 per group) will be enrolled to detect an absolute difference of at least 2 migraine days/month in the experimental group (assuming alfa 5%, power 95%, up to 15% loss to follow-up).

Conditions

• Migraine Without Aura

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Education of patients

During withdrawal treatment, patients are given recommendations on the approach to the use of drugs for acute treatment of migraine headache and on lifestyle issues. With regard to drugs, patients will be encouraged to restrict use of acute medications to headaches with "severe pain"; i.e., those rated as 8 or greater on a 0-10 (no pain - pain as bad as it could be). In these instances, patients will be instructed to take Eletriptan (40 mg) and/or Almotriptan (12.5 mg) as the first-line treatment, indomethacin (50 mg) as the second line, and will be specifically urged to avoid opioids. With regard to healthy lifestyle issues, patients will be encouraged to engage in moderate physical activity (i.e., 45 minutes twice per week of aerobic exercise), remain well hydrated, consume 3 meals per day, and maintain a regular sleep/wake pattern with at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night.

BEHAVIORAL

ACT

ACT consists in 6 weekly sessions, 90 minutes each, and 2 supplementary "booster" sessions, at two and four weeks after the conclusion of the weekly session. The main focus of the six ACT session will be the following: 1) Creative helplessness: the problem of control; 2) Indentifying values: introduction to Mindfulness; 3) Actions guided by values: working with thought; 4) Working with Acceptance and Willingness; 5) Committed Actions: self-as-context; 6) Integration: working with obstacles - wrap-up. The booster session starts with a mindfulness exercise, followed by a review of the contents covered across the ACT program. Patients will be trained in small groups (5-7 patients each) and guided by a specifically trained therapist. They will be educated to practice at home according to the instructions given by the therapist during the sessions.

DRUG

Pharmacological prophylaxis

Pharmacological prophylaxis will be prescribed based on patients' profile (e.g. previous failures or contraindications), and limited to Topiramate, Propanolol, Amytriptiline or Flunarizine. Doses will depend on patients' features, and the doses herein reported are to be intended as approximate ones: Topiramate at the dose of 50mg/day; Propanolol at the dose of 20mg/day; Amytriptiline at the dose of 10mg/day; Flunarizine at the dose of 5mg/day.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Brigham and Women's Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Fondazione I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Licia Grazzi, MD · Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2018-03-15

Primary Completion

2020-07-15

Completion

2022-12-31

Countries

• Italy

Study Locations