Smartphone Use Restriction as Treatment of Primary Headache

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Smartphone restriction: The patients will then be advised to cut down the usage by one-third in terms of usage hours. The compliance will be checked at the time of outcome assessment.

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to study smartphone use restriction as a treatment modality in patients of primary headache. The main question\[s\] it aims to answer are:

1. In patients with primary headache, does restriction of smartphone use lead to reduced consumption of medications (acute, prophylaxis, either or both)?
2. In patients with primary headache, does restriction of smartphone use lead to better responsiveness to medications (acute, prophylaxis, either or both)?
3. Can reduction of smartphone duration be used as a non-pharmacological treatment of primary headache?
4. In patients with primary headache, is the type of smartphone use (phone calls, internet browsing, watching screen) determinant of the severity of headache?
5. Can we make an addiction score to predict which patient should be advised to limit smartphone use based on the above information?
6. In patients with primary headache, does restriction of smartphone use led to improvement in headache severity (frequency, intensity, duration, one of them or all).

The smartphone users may further be classified into low and high smartphone users depending upon the smartphone addiction questionnaire (SAQ) (appendix 1) usage score. SUs with 0-1 score on the SAQ were further grouped into low SUs, and patients with score ≥1 were grouped into high SUs. To create a homogenous group, only patients with high SU will be randomized to standard treatment (Arm C) and intervention group (Arm D).

Participants will be asked about their smartphone usage, and if found eligible, there will be a run-in period of 4 weeks after which they will be randomized to the intervention (smartphone restriction) or comparison group (no restriction recommended)

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• The pill burden for abortive treatment — three months after initiation of study period
  The number of times the patient is using acute pain medications for headache in one month

Trial sites (1)

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