The International Headache Society classification of primary headaches in the International ClassificationI of Headache Disorders (ICHD) is almost universally accepted by researchers and clinicians. It is highly unlikely that reputable journals will accept submissions for publication if the cohorts have not been selected strictly according the ICHD. Likewise, in the clinical setting the appropriate treatment is prescribed according to how the patient’s headache is classified. But how reliable is the ICHD? As it does not appear to be based on data, its scientific validity is questionable. If indeed it cannot be scientifically validated, then the results of research based on the ICHD would be inaccurate. The practical implications of this are that the research data on the efficacy of migraine drugs is inaccurate. As a result, patients diagnosed according to this classification often receive the incorrect treatment.
No conflict of interest.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Shevel, E., Shevel, D. EHMTI-0008. The international headache society classification of primary headaches is not supported by data and should be revised. J Headache Pain 15 (Suppl 1), D57 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/1129-2377-15-S1-D57
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1129-2377-15-S1-D57