Efficacy of an educational website on headaches in schoolchildren: A cluster‐randomized controlled trial.
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| Title: | Efficacy of an educational website on headaches in schoolchildren: A cluster‐randomized controlled trial. |
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| Authors: | Goldstein, Henrike, Rau, Lisa‐Marie, Humberg, Clarissa, Bachhausen, Verena, Stahlschmidt, Lorin, Wager, Julia |
| Source: | Headache: The Journal of Head & Face Pain. Jun2025, Vol. 65 Issue 6, p961-972. 12p. |
| Subjects: | Health literacy, Pain measurement, Self-efficacy, Cluster analysis (Statistics), Job absenteeism, Research funding, Educational outcomes, Statistical sampling, Health, Randomized controlled trials, Descriptive statistics, Psychological adaptation, Information resources, Tension headache, Teenagers' conduct of life, Web development, Health education, Confidence intervals, Child behavior, Adolescence, Children |
| Abstract: | Objective: In this cluster‐randomized controlled trial, we developed an educational website on tension‐type headache and migraine for children and adolescents and evaluated its effectiveness in a school setting. Background: Primary headaches are a widespread issue in children and adolescents, often persisting into adulthood and associated with considerable disabilities, costs, and reduced quality of life. Effective management of primary headaches may prevent chronicity and its associated consequences. Design: Guided by a workbook, N = 814 fifth and sixth grade students explored the website during class. Data were collected before the headache education and at three further assessments, each 4 weeks apart, between November 2021 and April 2022. Participants were randomly assigned by class to either the intervention group, which received the website‐based educational intervention after the first data collection, or a control group, which accessed the website after the last data collection. Results: The intervention significantly increased children's headache‐related knowledge (time × group interaction: β = 0.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.30; 0.41], p ≤ 0.001) and resulted in fewer passive pain coping strategies (time × group interaction: β = −0.06, 95% CI = [−0.12; 0.00], p = 0.044). However, the intervention did not significantly reduce the number of days with headaches, use of headache medication, or school absences due to headaches. Conclusion: While the website is an effective educational tool for imparting knowledge about headaches, even initiating small behavioral changes, it does not lead to substantial changes in behavior or headache characteristics. Educating children via this website may lay a solid foundation of knowledge, but the intervention should be expanded and supplemented with closer supervision to achieve more significant behavior changes and improved outcomes. Plain Language Summary: Many children have headaches, so we wanted to find out if a headache‐focused educational website and workbook could improve headaches and their management in school children. Participants were 814 fifth and sixth graders who were randomly assigned to the intervention group or the control group. We found that the intervention increased knowledge and reduced passive coping strategies, but did not change headache symptoms or behaviors; therefore, this intervention may be an easily accessible, cheap, and time‐saving option for schools to impart knowledge on headaches for their students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Headache: The Journal of Head & Face Pain is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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