Objective:Medication-overuse headache (MOH) poses the risks of medication side effects and mental health concerns. This study applied the evidence-based PICO framework to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the clinical benefits of psychologi-cal interventions for treating MOH.
Method:A systematic literature review was performed by searching the Embase, PubMed, and ProQuest databases for studies comparing the efficacy of psychological interventions with that of usual care for MOH. Study quality was appraised using the Critical Ap-praisal Skills Programme and Newcastle–Ottawa Scale, and a meta-analysis was per-formed using the random-efects model in RevMan.
Result: Eight studies were included. No signifcant diferences between psychological inter-ventions and usual care were discovered in outcomes such as headache frequency, medication use, and disability. However, at the 12-month follow-up, psychological intervention combined with usual care was more efective at reducing analgesic use than was psychological intervention alone.
Conclusion: Although individual studies have reported that psychotherapy has value within MOH care, the fndings of the current meta-analysis indicate that a consistent conclusion has not yet been reached on this topic, indicating a need for further investigation.