A systematic review of home-based biofeedback for the prevention of migraine attacks in adults with episodic migraine

Abstract

There is a global need for migraine-therapies that are effective and accessible. The current systematic review aims to summarize the current knowledge on the efficacy of traditional and home-based biofeedback to treat migraine, and to assess the cost-effectiveness and feasibility of home-based therapy to treat migraine. In addition to an unsystematic search, two searches were performed in relevant databases yielding 568 records that were screened according to predefined selection criteria. 28 records were included, and the results were thematically grouped into 4 groups: (A) State-of-the-Art, (B) Current knowledge on therapy during pregnancy and postpartum, (C) Current knowledge on home-based, minimal contact therapy, and (D) Publications providing supportive data. Consequently, the results were summarized and discussed. The results suggest an overall positive effect of biofeedback for migraine in terms of headache-related outcomes, in addition to improvement of psychological outcomes. No studies assessed smartphone-delivered biofeedback. However, home-based behavioral therapy was found to be significantly more cost-effective than equivalent clinic-based therapy. Also, patients showed great interest in home-based solutions.