Physical Therapy in Tension-Type Headache

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who see adults reporting recurrent head, neck and jaw pain, and who want a clear account of what the randomized evidence on physical therapy for tension-type headache currently shows.

Licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in outpatient orthopedic, neurologic and general practice settings. The material is also relevant to clinicians in occupational health and primary care rehabilitation who encounter frequent headache complaints.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Intermediate

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

This course is based entirely on one open-access systematic review of randomized controlled trials. The review set out to summarize what physical therapy does to headache pain intensity, headache frequency and headache duration in adults diagnosed with tension-type headache, and to report those effects across short, medium and long follow-up periods.

The reviewers followed PRISMA reporting guidance, registered the protocol in PROSPERO, and searched PubMed, CINAHL, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PEDro, Scopus, SciELO and Dialnet. They limited the search to randomized controlled trials published in English or Spanish over an eleven-year window beginning in January 2011, and required each trial to score at least 6 out of 10 on the PEDro scale, a checklist used to rate how well a trial was designed and reported. Fifteen trials met every criterion.

What this course does and does not do

The course reports what these authors searched for, what the included trials measured, what the authors concluded, and where they said the evidence is weak. It does not issue clinical recommendations of its own, and it does not add findings from outside the source article.

Repiso-Guardeño, A.; Moreno-Morales, N.; Armenta-Pendón, M.A.; Rodríguez-Martínez, M.C.; Pino-Lozano, R.; Armenta-Peinado, J.A. Physical Therapy in Tension-Type Headache: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2023, volume 20, article 4466. Open access under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe the population, interventions and outcomes covered by this systematic review of randomized controlled trials in adults with tension-type headache.
2. State what the review's authors concluded about the existence of a standardized physical therapy protocol for tension-type headache and about the region all included techniques addressed.
3. Explain the limits the authors placed on their own conclusions, including the shortage of long-term follow-up and the sparse reporting of headache duration.

1. Start Here: how this course works, what it covers, and how to earn the contact hours
2. Podcast: Physical Therapy for Tension-Type Headache — the evidence in conversation (about ten minutes)
3. Tension-Type Headache and the Question the Reviewers Asked
4. How the Trials Were Found, Screened and Graded
5. What the Trials Reported on Pain, Frequency and Duration
6. Where the Evidence Runs Thin
7. What the Authors Said This Could Mean at the Bedside
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-test and course evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. This course is based entirely on one open-access systematic review of randomized controlled trials. The review set out to summarize what physical therapy does to headache pain intensity, headache frequency and headache duration in adults diagnosed with tension-type headache, and to report those effects across short, medium and long follow-up periods.
2. The reviewers followed PRISMA reporting guidance, registered the protocol in PROSPERO, and searched PubMed, CINAHL, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PEDro, Scopus, SciELO and Dialnet. They limited the search to randomized controlled trials published in English or Spanish over an eleven-year window beginning in January 2011, and required each trial to score at least 6 out of 10 on the PEDro scale, a checklist used to rate how well a trial was designed and reported. Fifteen trials met every criterion.
3. What this course does and does not do
4. The course reports what these authors searched for, what the included trials measured, what the authors concluded, and where they said the evidence is weak. It does not issue clinical recommendations of its own, and it does not add findings from outside the source article.
5. Repiso-Guardeño, A.; Moreno-Morales, N.; Armenta-Pendón, M.A.; Rodríguez-Martínez, M.C.; Pino-Lozano, R.; Armenta-Peinado, J.A. Physical Therapy in Tension-Type Headache: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2023, volume 20, article 4466. Open access under a Creative Commons Attribution license.