Special Issue "Headache in Children and Adolescents"

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Child Neurology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Boris Zernikow
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. German Paediatric Pain Centre, Children’s and Adolescents’ Hospital Datteln, Witten/Herdecke University, 45711 Datteln, Germany
2. Children’s Pain Therapy and Paediatric Palliative Care; Faculty of Health, School of Medicine, Witten/Herdecke University, 45711 Datteln, Germany
Interests: chronic pain in children, adolescents and young adults; interdisciplinary pain treatment; back pain in childhood
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Alyssa Lebel
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Headache Program, Hope Avenue Waltham, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Interests: chronic headache; neuroimaging of networks related to migraine in the developing brain; clinical evaluation of autonomic nervous system changes in patients with headache; headache and sleep

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Chronic headache in childhood is an increasing problem in our society and a challenge for our healthcare systems. Children and adolescents suffer mainly from migraines and tension-type headaches. However, increasingly, children report daily headaches with emotional co-morbidities and an overuse of analgesics. Consequences are significant for each child, their families, and for society. Children with chronic headache often miss school, which may result in their academic performance being worse than that of their classmates without headache. Healthcare systems spend a significant amount of money treating these patients. If treatment is not effective, our society bears the burden of young adults who continue to suffer from headache. In this situation, we welcome scientific studies on therapeutic strategies, from prophylactic measures to multimodal treatment options, that can help to address this problem, relieve suffering, and stop the silent pandemic of childhood headache.

Prof. Dr. Boris Zernikow
Prof. Alyssa Lebel
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • headache
  • migraine
  • children
  • adolescent
  • triptans
  • interdisciplinary treatment
  • psychological treatment
  • prophylactic measures
  • pain education

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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Article
Adolescents’ Explanatory Models for Headaches and Associations with Behavioral and Emotional Outcomes
Children 2021, 8(3), 234; https://doi.org/10.3390/children8030234 - 18 Mar 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 451
Abstract
More than one-third of adolescents experience recurrent headaches. Usually, these headaches are of primary origin and modulated by different biological and psychosocial factors. While parents are often consulted in scientific research and medical care about the nature of their child’s headache, it is [...] Read more.
More than one-third of adolescents experience recurrent headaches. Usually, these headaches are of primary origin and modulated by different biological and psychosocial factors. While parents are often consulted in scientific research and medical care about the nature of their child’s headache, it is unclear to what extent parents and their children agree upon the factors that cause them. Adolescents’ own attributions of headaches have rarely been investigated, and it is unclear how those attributions affect behavioral and emotional outcomes. In the present study, adolescents with chronic headaches (N = 248) and their parents (N = 120) rated the influence of various biological and psychosocial factors on the adolescents’ headaches. Associations between these factors and several behavioral and emotional outcomes were examined. The most frequently reported factor by both samples was stress; however, concordance between parents and adolescents was generally low. The factor “other disease” was significantly associated with medication consumption and school absence. This study is one of the first to provide insights into adolescents’ own attributions of headaches. Furthermore, the significant associations of the factor with behavioral outcomes reveal the importance of understanding personal explanatory models of headache. Future studies should examine associations between subjective headache causes and the individual’s experience of the disorder to improve headache interventions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Headache in Children and Adolescents)
Article
Short-Term and Long-Term Effectiveness of Intensive Interdisciplinary Pain Treatment for Children and Adolescents with Chronic Headache: A Longitudinal Observation Study
Children 2021, 8(3), 220; https://doi.org/10.3390/children8030220 - 12 Mar 2021
Viewed by 385
Abstract
Pediatric chronic headache causes significant impairment to those affected and bears the risk of aggravation into adulthood. Intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment (IIPT) was found to positively affect pain-related and emotional outcomes in pediatric patients with chronic pain up to 4 years after treatment. [...] Read more.
Pediatric chronic headache causes significant impairment to those affected and bears the risk of aggravation into adulthood. Intensive interdisciplinary pain treatment (IIPT) was found to positively affect pain-related and emotional outcomes in pediatric patients with chronic pain up to 4 years after treatment. This study was aimed at investigating the effect of IIPT on solely pediatric chronic headache patients. As part of a longitudinal observation study, n = 70 children and adolescents with chronic headache receiving IIPT were included, of which n = 47 completed the assessment at four assessment time points: before treatment (PRE) and at three follow-ups (6-MONTH FOLLOW-UP, 1-YEAR FOLLOW-UP, and 4-YEAR FOLLOW-UP). Pain-related (pain intensity, pain-related disability, school absence), as well as psychological outcome domains (anxiety, depression), were investigated. The results support the short-term and long-term efficacy of IIPT for pediatric chronic headache patients regarding the pain-related outcome measures by significant reductions from PRE to all follow-up measure points. For anxiety and depression, only short-term improvements were found. Future studies should specifically focus on the identification of methods to consolidate the beneficial short-term effects of IIPT on psychological outcome domains in the long term. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Headache in Children and Adolescents)
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Article
Long-Term Outcome of Indomethacin Treatment in Pediatric Patients with Paroxysmal Hemicrania—A Case Series
Children 2021, 8(2), 101; https://doi.org/10.3390/children8020101 - 03 Feb 2021
Viewed by 727
Abstract
Paroxysmal Hemicrania is a rare form of primary headache in children and adolescents, belonging to the group of trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias. Patients suffer from severe, short-lasting unilateral headaches accompanied by symptoms of the autonomic system on the same side of the head. The [...] Read more.
Paroxysmal Hemicrania is a rare form of primary headache in children and adolescents, belonging to the group of trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias. Patients suffer from severe, short-lasting unilateral headaches accompanied by symptoms of the autonomic system on the same side of the head. The short duration of attacks distinguishes Paroxysmal Hemicrania from other trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias. Indomethacin is the treatment of choice, and its effectiveness provides a unique diagnostic criterion. However, the long-term outcomes in children are highly underreported. In this case-series, n = 8 patients diagnosed with Paroxysmal Hemicrania were contacted via telephone 3.1 to 10.7 years after initial presentation. A standardized interview was conducted. n = 6 patients were headache-free and no longer took indomethacin for 5.4 ± 3.4 years. The mean treatment period in these patients was 2.2 ± 1.9 years. Weaning attempts were undertaken after 1.7 ± 1.3 months; in n = 3 patients, more than one weaning attempt was necessary. n = 2 patients were still taking indomethacin (4.5 and 4.9 years, respectively). Both unsuccessfully tried to reduce the indomethacin treatment (two and six times, respectively). Adverse effects appeared in n = 6 (75%) patients and led to a discontinuation of therapy in n = 2 patients. Our long-term follow-up suggests that in a substantial proportion of pediatric patients, discontinuing indomethacin therapy is possible without the recurrence of Paroxysmal Hemicrania. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Headache in Children and Adolescents)
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Review

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Review
Pediatric Episodic Migraine with Aura: A Unique Entity?
Children 2021, 8(3), 228; https://doi.org/10.3390/children8030228 - 17 Mar 2021
Viewed by 399
Abstract
Migraine headache is a common cause of pain and disability in children and adolescents and is a major contributor to frequently missed school days and limitations in activities. Of children and adolescents with migraine headache, approximately one-third have migraine with aura (MA). MA [...] Read more.
Migraine headache is a common cause of pain and disability in children and adolescents and is a major contributor to frequently missed school days and limitations in activities. Of children and adolescents with migraine headache, approximately one-third have migraine with aura (MA). MA is often considered to be similar to migraine without aura (MO), and thus, many studies do not stratify patients based on the presence of aura. Because of this, treatment recommendations are often analogous between MA and MO, with a few notable exceptions. The purpose of this review is to highlight the current evidence demonstrating the unique pathophysiology, clinical characteristics, differential diagnosis, co-morbidities, and treatment recommendations and responses for pediatric MA. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Headache in Children and Adolescents)
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