The relationship between headache and religious attendance (the Nord-Trøndelag health study- HUNT)

Abstract

BackgroundReligious belief can be used as a pain coping strategy. Our purpose was to evaluate the relationship between headache and religious activity using prospective data from a large population-based study.MethodsThis longitudinal cohort study used data from two consecutive surveys in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Survey (HUNT 2 and 3) performed in 1995–1997; and 2006–2008. Among the 51,383 participants aged ≥ 20 years who answered headache questions at baseline, 41,766 were eligible approximately 11 years later. Of these, 25,177 (60%) completed the question in HUNT 3 regarding religious activity. Frequent religious attendees (fRA) (used as a marker of stronger religious belief than average) were defined as those who had been to church/prayer house at least once monthly during the last six months.ResultsIn the multivariate analyses, adjusting for known potential confounders, individuals with headache 1–14 days/month in HUNT 2 were more likely to be fRA 11 years later than headache-free individuals. Migraine at baseline predisposed more strongly to fRA at follow-up (OR = 1.25; 95% CI 1.19-1.40) than did non-migrainous headache (OR = 1.13; 95% 1.04-1.23). The odds of being fRA was 48% increased (OR 1.48; 95% 1.19-1.83) among those with migraine 7–14 days/month at baseline compared to subjects without headache. In contrast, headache status at baseline did not influence the odds of being frequent visitors of concerts, cinema and/or theatre at follow-up 11 years later.ConclusionsIn this prospective study, headache, in particular migraine, at baseline slightly increased the odds of being fRA 11 years later.

Psychological therapies (remotely delivered) for the management of chronic and recurrent pain in children and adolescents

“…Five trials investigated psychological therapies delivered remotely for children with headache (Connelly 2006; Cottrell 2007; McGrath 1992; Rapoff 2014; Trautmann 2010), one assessed juvenile idiopathic arthritis (Stinson 2010), and two included headache and non-headache conditions (i.e. recurrent abdominal pain and musculoskeletal pain) meaning that we entered them in both headache and mixed pain analyses where appropriate (Hicks 2006; Palermo 2009).…”

“…For Trautmann 2010, we combined two remotely delivered treatment conditions (cognitive behavioural therapy and applied relaxation) and compared this to the control condition (education). Most treatments were delivered via the Internet (Hicks 2006; Palermo 2009; Stinson 2010; Trautmann 2010), two studies delivered treatment via CD-ROM (Connelly 2006; Rapoff 2014), one study delivered treatment via audiotapes (McGrath 1992), and the remaining study delivered treatment primarily via the telephone (Cottrell 2007). Control conditions differed between studies.…”

“…Three studies used a waiting-list control (Connelly 2006; Hicks 2006; Palermo 2009), and five studies used active controls. The active controls included studies that delivered education online (Rapoff 2014; Trautmann 2010), prescribed children triptan medication (Cottrell 2007), delivered a credible placebo therapy (e.g. discussed triggers, brainstorming stressful situations; McGrath 1992), and had research assistants discuss “own best efforts” over the telephone with children (Stinson 2010).…”

“…Guidelines for trials of behavioural and pharmacological treatments for chronic and recurrent headache recommend reporting headache frequency as the primary outcome variable and pain intensity and duration as secondary outcome variables (Andrasik 2005; Penzien 2005; Tfelt-Hansen 2012). Therefore, we preferentially extracted data for children and adolescents who reported at least 50% reduction of headache frequency in both the treatment and control groups; this was possible in four studies (Connelly 2006; McGrath 1992; Rapoff 2014; Trautmann 2010). When headache frequency was not reported or available, we extracted data for children and adolescents who reported at least 50% reduction pain intensity in both the treatment and control groups (Hicks 2006; Palermo 2009).…”

Jakten på helsefremmende faktorer i epidemiologisk forskning: Eksempler fra Helseundersøkelsen i Nord-Trøndelag (HUNT)

“…I en studie der deltakelse på kulturelle arrangementer ble sammenliknet med religiøs aktivitet, så man at kirkegang hadde en like sterk signifikant positiv relasjon til tilfredshet med livet som deltakelse ved sportsarrangement (83). En longitudinell studie basert på HUNT2 og HUNT3 viste at hodepine førte til økt religiøs deltakelse i kirke og bedehus (84). Studiene over viser også at sammenhengene ofte er sterkere blant menn enn kvinner.…”