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A smartphone app for muscle rest considerably decreased migraine-related incapacity in sufferers visiting the emergency division, a brand new examine exhibits.
Led by researchers from NYU Langone Well being, the examine featured a smartphone-based app that guides sufferers with migraine by means of progressive muscle rest (PMR), an evidence-based remedy for migraine during which sufferers tense after which calm down one muscle group at a time.
Printed on-line October 16 in JAMA Community Open, the work exhibits that the proportion of sufferers that had at the very least a five-point enchancment in a regular rating of migraine-driven incapacity practically doubled for many who used the app versus those that didn’t. The examine used the Migraine Incapacity Evaluation Rating (MIDAS), a questionnaire that asks concerning the variety of days over three months that migraine brought on an individual to overlook work, college, or social occasions.
“Our findings highlight the potential of smartphone-based interventions to empower patients in managing their own migraine, and in reducing migraine-related disability without medication,” stated lead examine writer Mia Minen, MD, MPH, affiliate professor within the Departments of Neurology and Inhabitants Well being at NYU Grossman College of Medication.
Migraine consists of painful, recurrent assaults that may final for hours or days, usually with nausea, vomiting, or sensitivity to gentle or sound. It impacts greater than 14% of individuals globally and is a frequent reason for repeated emergency division (ED) visits, say the examine authors. Practically half (46%) of sufferers discharged from the ED with a migraine prognosis revisit the ED inside 3 months.
“The RELAXaHEAD app is meant to reduce migraine disability and hopefully reduce the rate at which patients return to the emergency department for migraine,” added Minen, director of Headache Analysis at NYU Langone.
Higher the extra it’s used
This scientific trial concerned 69 contributors aged 18 to 65 who visited NYU Langone Well being’s emergency departments for migraine between 2019 and 2021. Members had been randomly assigned to make use of both the RELAXaHEAD app with progressive muscle rest (PMR) or to be in a management group that used solely a headache diary.
The variety of examine sufferers that had at the very least a five-point enchancment in MIDAS rating was 45.7% amongst these with out the PMR and 82.4% with PMR. The analysis workforce additionally discovered that those that used PMR extra often skilled higher outcomes, suggesting a dose-response relationship.
“While the study did not find significant differences in the number of monthly headache days, the PMR group’s improvement in disability is really meaningful,” stated Dr. Minen. Shifting ahead, her workforce is conducting a large-scale scientific examine to guage the examine app for folks with migraine, not in emergency departments, however as an alternative in major care settings, the place such sufferers most frequently current for care.
Dr. Minen has monetary pursuits within the app and its RELAXaHEAD underlying mental property, which has been licensed to CareTurner. These pursuits may gain advantage from the end result of this examine and are managed in accordance with the insurance policies of NYU Langone Well being.
Extra info:
Smartphone-Primarily based Muscle Rest for Migraine within the Emergency Division A Randomized Medical Trial, JAMA Community Open (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.34221. jamanetwork.com/journals/jaman … /fullarticle/2840280
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NYU Langone Well being
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Smartphone-based rest program reduces incapacity for emergency division migraine sufferers (2025, October 16)
retrieved 17 October 2025
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