Towards eHealth to support the health journey of headache patients: a scoping review

• Published in: Journal of neurology Vol. 268; no. 10; pp. 3646 - 3665
• Main Authors: van de Graaf, Daniëlle L., Schoonman, Guus G., Habibović, Mirela, Pauws, Steffen C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.10.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Cognitive ability; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; Headache; Headache - therapy; Headaches; Humans; Medication Adherence; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neurology; Neuroradiology; Neurosciences; Patients; Reproducibility of Results; Review; Telemedicine; Web portals; mHealth; Tension-type headache; Cluster headache; Digital health tool; Migraine
• ISSN: 0340-5354; 1432-1459
• DOI: 10.1007/s00415-020-09981-3

Objective The aim of this study is to (1) review the digital health tools that have been used in headache studies, and (2) discuss the effectivity and reliability of these tools. Background Many headache patients travel a long and troublesome journey from first symptoms until a meaningful care plan. eHealth, mHealth, and digital therapeutic modalities have been advocated as the way forward to improve patient care. Method Online databases PubMed, Cinahl, and PsycINFO were searched using a predefined search query. A data extraction form was used to gather relevant data elements from the selected papers. Results A total of 39 studies were selected. The studies included 94,127 participants. The majority of studies focused on diaries ( N  = 27 out of 39). Digital (cognitive) behavioral therapy were also quite common ( N  = 7 out of 39). Other digital health tool categories were tele-consultations, telemonitoring and patient portals. Conclusion Many digital health tools for headache patients regarding diaries and behavioral/therapeutical treatment are described in scientific research with limited information on effectivity and reliability. Scientific knowledge with regard to other categories such as tele-consultations, patient portals, telemonitoring including medication adherence, online information resources, wearable, symptom checkers, digital peer support is still scarce or missing.