Journal of applied behavior analysis
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Biofeedback and rational-emotive therapy in the management of migraine headache.
Twenty-four migraine patients were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (a) self-monitoring of headache activity (waiting list), (b) frontalis EMG biofeedback, (c) digit temperature biofeedback, and (d) digit temperature biofeedback plus Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET). Bidirectional control over the target physiological response was assessed through a reversal design in each session. Following at least a four-week baseline, the three biofeedback groups received 8 to 10, 30-minute sessions of bidirectional biofeedback training, scheduled twice a week. ⋯ Bidirectional digit temperature performance did not improve with training, was demonstrated in only 33% of the biofeedback sessions, was not maintained over time, and was unrelated to improvement in headache activity. EMG subjects reported biofeedback performance to be an easier task and met the performance criterion on 85% of the sessions. The frequency of home practice contributed over 55% of the variance in retrospective estimates of headache improvement but was not related to changes in daily records of headache activity.