A smartphone relaxation app helps some people manage migraine

According to a new study, migraine sufferers who used a smartphone relaxation technique at least twice a week had an average of four days less headache per month.

Developed in part by researchers at the NYU School of Medicine, the application, called RELAXaHEAD, guides patients toward progressive muscle relaxation, or PMR. In this form of behavioral therapy, patients relax alternately and tend different muscle groups to reduce stress.

The authors of the study say that their work is published in the journal Nature Digital Medicine June 4 online is the first to evaluate the clinical efficacy of an application for the treatment of migraine and the addition of an application to standard therapies (such as drugs by oral) under the supervision of a doctor.

"Our study shows that patients can undergo behavioral therapy if it is easily accessible, at their own pace and that it is affordable," says lead investigator and neurologist Mia Minen. MD, MPH. "Clinicians need to rethink their therapeutic approach to migraine because many of the accepted therapies, although they have proven to be the most appropriate current treatment, do not work for all lifestyles."

Migraine affects more than 36 million people in the United States. The main symptoms include moderate to severe headaches often accompanied by nausea and sensitivity to light and sound. Drugs and behavior therapy are often prescribed to patients, but does not follow this therapy, even on the recommendation of a physician, because of its cost and inconvenience, says Minen, badistant professor of population health and health. Chief of Research on Headaches at NYU Langone Health. "Often, they end up taking only medication," she says.

To determine if an application could increase compliance, the research team badyzed the use of the application by 51 confirmed migraine patients at NYU Langone Health, who all owned a smartphone. Participants were asked to use the application for 90 days and to record daily the frequency and severity of their headaches, while the application was monitoring the duration and frequency of use of the MPR by patients.

The study participants had an average of 13 headaches per month, ranging from 4 to 31 days. Thirty-nine percent of patients in the study also reported anxiety and 30% had depression.

PMR therapy using RELAXaHEAD application fell to 51% after six weeks and to 29% after three months. The authors of the study, who foresaw a gradual decrease in the use of the application, then plan to identify potential ways to encourage more frequent sessions. They also plan to study the best ways to introduce the application into their clinical practices.

According to Minen, the results of the study suggest that accessible smartphone technologies "can effectively teach patients the skills they need to control their migraines throughout life."

Minen was part of the team that partnered with Boston-based Irody Inc. to design and develop RELAXaHEAD, in which NYU Langone holds a financial interest. However, the application is not yet publicly available.

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In addition to Minen, NYU Langone Health researchers were Samrachana Adhikari, PhD and Thomas Berk, MD. Elizabeth Seng, PhD, and Richard Lipton, both of Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York; Sarah Jinich at Barnard College in New York; and Scott Powers, PhD, at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

The American Academy of Neurology, the American Brain Foundation and US grants K23AT009706-01 and K23NS096107 from the US Department of Health and Human Services funded the study, as well as grant UL1TR001445 from the National Institutes of Health.

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