Acceptance and Commitment Therapy vs Medical Treatment as Usual Wait-list Control for Primary Headache Sufferers
CompletedNot applicableNCT02734992
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This study has no listed site in Canada in this snapshot. It is included as part of the worldwide chronic pain corpus.
Brief summary (from the registry)
Research to date suggests that individuals with headache use avoidance as a way to manage their pain. Despite the wide use of avoidance as a coping mechanism of headache triggers, very little empirical evidence exist to support its effectiveness in headache management. New treatment approaches, such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), emphasize acceptance of headache and valued-living as alternatives to avoidance, have demonstrated preliminary support in helping individuals reduce headache-related disability and improve quality of life. Though, ACT has received empirical support for various chronic pain conditions, very little evidence exists as to its effectiveness for head pain problems. The current study will examine the efficacy of an ACT-based intervention, when added to medical treatment as usual (MTAU) vs. a waitlist control group across time (group differences at 3 months) and time changes for the ACT group at 12-months follow-up, on quality of life and general disability, among headache sufferers.
Study details
- Official title
- An Innovative Psychosocial Intervention for the Treatment of Chronic Pain Patients and Their Families
- Conditions
- Interventions
- Behavioral: ACT+ MTAU
- Behavioral: Waitlist Control +MTAU
- Sponsor
- University of Cyprus
- Collaborators
- University of Crete
- Start date
- 2014-09
- Primary completion
- 2015-03
- Sex
- All
- Age range
- from 18 Years to 70 Years
- Results posted
- No results posted in this snapshot
- Countries
- Cyprus
- Total sites listed
- 1
Eligibility criteria
Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
Inclusion criteria: 1. meeting diagnostic criteria for Primary Headache based on the International Classification of Headache Disorders-II (beta version; 2013); 2. older than 18 years; c) sufficient Greek reading ability; and d) stable pharmacotherapy and headache experience (both remained unchanged for the past four weeks prior to assessment). Exclusion criteria: 1. had an active psychotic spectrum condition or manic episode, suicidal ideation/intent or substance use problems (particularly misuse of prescription head pain relievers) within the past 6 months; 2. had a history of seizure, facial neuralgia or other secondary headache diagnoses (i.e., conditions that might preclude the accuracy of primary headache diagnosis); 3. scored \<20 on the Mini-mental Status Examination suggesting significant cognitive impairment; 4. were living in nursing homes; 5. had multiple pain sides (pain experienced in multiple body sides or groups of muscles); 6. took part in other psychological interventions or counseling (particularly for managing headache) over the last two years; 7. were pregnant or lactating.
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02734992