Effect of Biofeedback-assisted Autogenic Training on Headache Activity and Mood States in Korean Female Migraine Patients

Biofeedback with or without combined autogenic training is known to be effective for the treatment of migraine. This study aimed to examine the effect of biofeedback treatment on headache activity, anxiety, and depression in Korean female patients with migraine headache. Patients were randomized into the treatment group (n=17) and monitoring group (n=15). Mood states including anxiety and depression, and psychophysiological variables such as mean skin temperature of the patients were compared with those of the normal controls (n=21). We found greater treatment response rate (defined as > or =50% reduction in headache index) in patients with biofeedback-assisted autogenic training than in monitoring group. The scores on the anxiety and depression scales in the patients receiving biofeedback-assisted autogenic training decreased after the biofeedback treatment. Moreover, the decrease in their anxiety levels was significantly related to the treatment outcome. This result suggests that the biofeedback-assisted autogenic training is effective for the treatment of migraine and its therapeutic effect is closely related to the improvement of the anxiety level.