Primary headaches during the COVID-19 lockdown in Germany: analysis of data from 2325 patients using an electronic headache diary

Background Lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic have led to lifestyle changes, which in turn may have an impact on the course of headache disorders. We aimed to assess changes in primary headache characteristics and lifestyle factors during the COVID-19 lockdown in Germany using digital do...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of headache and pain 2021-06, Vol.22 (1), p.59-59, Article 59
Main Authors: Raffaelli, Bianca, Mecklenburg, Jasper, Scholler, Simon, Overeem, Lucas Hendrik, Oliveira Gonçalves, Ana Sofia, Reuter, Uwe, Neeb, Lars
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Communicable Disease Control
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Electronics
Germany - epidemiology
Headache
Headache - epidemiology
Headaches
Humans
Internal Medicine
Lockdown
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Migraine
Mood
Neurology
Pain Medicine
Pandemics
Primary headache
SARS-CoV-2
Shelter in place
Short Report
Sleep
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Summary:Background Lockdown measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic have led to lifestyle changes, which in turn may have an impact on the course of headache disorders. We aimed to assess changes in primary headache characteristics and lifestyle factors during the COVID-19 lockdown in Germany using digital documentation in the mobile application (app) M-sense. Main body We analyzed data of smartphone users, who entered daily data in the app in the 28-day period before lockdown (baseline) and in the first 28 days of lockdown (observation period). This analysis included the change of monthly headache days (MHD) in the observation period compared to baseline. We also assessed changes in monthly migraine days (MMD), the use of acute medication, and pain intensity. In addition, we looked into the changes in sleep duration, sleep quality, energy level, mood, stress, and activity level. Outcomes were compared using paired t-tests. The analysis included data from 2325 app users. They reported 7.01 ± SD 5.64 MHD during baseline and 6.89 ± 5.47 MHD during lockdown without significant changes ( p  > 0.999). MMD, headache and migraine intensity neither showed any significant changes. Days with acute medication use were reduced from 4.50 ± 3.88 in the baseline to 4.27 ± 3.81 in the observation period ( p  
ISSN:1129-2369
1129-2377
DOI:10.1186/s10194-021-01273-z