A five-item questionnaire can help clinicians to diagnose this common problem.
Many patients with chronic headache are overusing medications, which contributes to the refractoriness of the headache; discontinuation of analgesics can lead to clinical improvement (JW Psychiatry Aug 14 2006). An easy method to screen patients for medication overuse would help clinicians. These authors examined the possible usefulness of the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS), which has been validated for substance dependence. The SDS consists of five questions (e.g., “Did you worry about your use of your headache medication?”), and the answers are rated from 0 to 3.
To identify individuals with chronic headaches (≥15 days in the previous month, ≥180 days in the previous year, or both), researchers screened 30,000 people (aged 30–44) by ma…
Reviewing Author
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)
DisclosuresRoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions
Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience
Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)