Abstract

Background: Headache disorders are the most common neurological disorders globally, and tension-type headaches (TTH) and migraine are the most common primary headache types. Accurate diagnosis is crucial to management, but headache type differentiation remains challenging in routine practice. mobile health (mHealth) apps can potentially aid better headache classification but their diagnostic performance must be tested.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to validate and confirm the reliability of a new emerging mobile health app to distinguish between migraine and tension-type headaches according to the International Clas sification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3) criteria.

Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional pilot trial with 73 participants in a university setting. The app em ployed a diagnostic algorithm based on ICHD-3 criteria, in conjunction with a structured questionnaire that captured headache characteristics, comorbid symptoms, precipitants, and impact. Results: The mobile application reported a total diagnostic accuracy of 88.0% (95% CI: 68.8% - 97.5%), sensitivity of 80.0%, and specificity of 93.3% for migraine classification. The predictors of migraine were photophobia (OR: 12.85), pulsating pain quality (OR: 8.93), and phonophobia (OR: 6.42). The app was high ly rated for usability with a mean SUS score of 78.6 (SD = 12.3) indicating good user acceptance.

Conclusion: The pilot study provides preliminary evidence in support of the validity and reliability of the mobile health app in differentiating between migraine and tension-type headache.

DOI: doi.org/10.63721/25JNRP0102

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