Increased smartphoneuse was found to be associated with an increased requirement of acutemedication and less relief from medication for primary headache, but not anincrease in frequency or duration of headaches, according to research publishedin Neurology Clinical Practice.
Smartphonetechnology is advancing at a rapid rate, but excessive engagement with thesedevices is raising health concerns. In a cross-sectional study, researcherssought to determine whether smartphone use was associated with worsening ofprimary headache, including migraine, chronic migraine, and tension-typeheadaches.
The study wasconducted between June 2017 and December 2018 in India, and included patients aged14 years with primary headache. All patients underwent detailed neurologicexamination and relevant investigations; information about headache pattern,severity, frequency, duration of episodes, character, location, and associatedcomplaints were noted. Information was also obtained about new-onset headachesof >3 months.
Each patient wasrequired to answer questions regarding mobile phone use with respect to type ofcell phone, daily usage duration, and type of usage. Questions were scored as 0for no and 1 for yes, with the highest score of thequestionnaire being 11. Patients were divided into non-smartphone users (NSUs; eitherdid not use a cell phone or non-smartphone user) and smartphone users (SUs).
The primary objective was to determine the association between mobile phone usage and new-onset headache or increases severity of primary headache. Chronic migraine was defined as headache for >15 days a month for >3 months. Worsening headache was defined as 2-fold increase in severity and/or intensity. Secondary outcomes included the association of smartphone use in patients with primary headache who required medication, as well as the dosage, type of analgesic taken, pill count of acute medications per month, number of prophylactic drugs, duration of prophylactic drug use, and dosage.
A total of 400patients were included in the study (194 NSU; 206 SU). Of the 194 NSU patients,76 were not using any phone and 130 were using non-smartphones. NSU patientswere older compared with SU patients. The majority of patients with headachewere women (269/400); however, more men were in the SU group compared with theNSU group (39.3% vs 25.8%).
The most commonheadache type was migraine, followed by chronic migraine and chronictension-type headache. More patients in the SU group reported more aurascompared with the NSU group (17.5% vs 7.7%), but the course of headache wassimilar in both groups (worsened: NSUs, 71.6% vs SUs, 71.8%).
Patients in the NSU grouphad similar duration of episodes compared with SU patients, as well as thenumber of episodes of headache per month (NSU, 7.3 vs SU, 7.1). Patients in theSU group took a higher number of pills for acute treatment with a median pillintake of 8 per month compared with 5 per month in the NSU group. A higherproportion of patients in the NSU group had relief with acute medicationscompared with the SU group, but the proportions of patients taking prophylacticmedication and the median duration of prophylaxis were similar in both groups.
Although thecourse of headache, frequency of episodes, and the pain scores were similar inNSUs and SUs, the SU group had higher frequency of medications for acuteattacks with poor response to analgesics, the authors concluded.
Reference
Uttarwar P, Vibha D, Prasad K, Srivastava AK, Pandit AK, Dwivedi SN. Smartphone use and primary headache: a cross-sectional hospital-based study Neurol Clin Pract. doi:10.1212/CPJ.0000000000000816
Read more:
Smartphone Use and Headache: What's the Link? - Clinical Advisor
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