Digital self-management now with Apple Watch and migraine app

Note: Apple Watch has a pressure-sensitive screen. After starting, the app first shows the current overview. For quick entry, press your finger a little harder and more sustainably on the screen. The quick entry will then open.

Hamburg/Kiel, January 17, 2017. Counting steps, checking messages, checking appointments – digital timepieces have long been able to do more than just display the time and date. Now the first health applications reach the wrist: The Apple Watch, the first intelligent watch, now supports the self-management of chronic headaches. This is made possible by the therapy-supporting migraine app, which is being developed at the Kiel Pain Clinic under the direction of Prof. Dr. Hartmut Göbel was developed and is made available nationwide in cooperation with the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK). With the help of the migraine app, you can, among other things, document pain patterns and medication intake, explore types of headaches and identify possible reasons for intervention within therapy. Since its launch in December 2016, more than 10,000 people have already used this freely available and free application, initially on an iOS basis. This will also be available for Android from spring. It is specifically tailored to the needs of migraine and headache patients and not only records the course on a scientific basis with active data entry. It analyzes these, informs the user and reacts appropriately to alarming signals. The app also provides information about active behavioral measures and shows how the desired health goal can be achieved under medical supervision. It was developed based on decades of experience by specialized scientists, care experts and those affected.

Self-management with just one tap

Headache characteristics can now be recorded on the smartwatch with a tap on the wrist, without having to reach for a smartphone. The course of treatment is analyzed individually. The migraine app - unique in the world - provides migraine and headache patients with an immediate analysis of the course and success of the doctor-led treatment with a connection to the Apple Watch.

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And this is how the app works

The migraine app uses other diverse features to either make future headache attacks less frequent or even prevent them altogether.
The relaxation method progressive muscle relaxation is included in the app and can be used and trained at any time. The migraine app reminds you of use, records and rewards use. Trigger factors such as local weather data are automatically added to the history so that connections can be recorded individually.

A chronicity test helps to analyze factors that cause or worsen headaches in a personalized manner. The migraine app also calculates the best time to treat headache attacks and supports the treating doctor during the course of therapy. The TK headache coaching, which is also included, provides extensive knowledge about the causes and treatment of headaches. Other features include the nationwide expert search, a media library with many information videos, direct access to the current international headache classification, live chats with experts and the nationwide digital self-help community Headbook. A version optimized for use by children is also included.

background

Minister Reinhard Meyer, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labor and Transport of the State of Schleswig-Holstein, Dr. Johann Brunkhorst, head of the TK state representation in Schleswig-Holstein and Prof. Dr. Hartmut Göbel, director of the Kiel Pain Clinic, will discuss the possibilities of the digital future and networking for the benefit of patients using the example of the migraine app incorporating the Apple Watch at the “Networked Health” congress in Kiel, January 18, 2017.

Migraines and other forms of headache are epidemiologically among the most common and, after dementia and stroke, among the third most expensive diseases of the nervous system. They are one of the most common reasons for doctor visits and inpatient emergency admissions and cause serious disabilities and complications. Worldwide, more than 46 percent of the adult population suffers from an active headache disorder, eleven percent from migraines, 42 percent from tension-type headaches and three percent from daily persistent headaches. Headaches take third place on the World Health Organization's (WHO) list of the most disabling diseases. Around a million people in Germany alone suffer from migraine attacks every day. Of these, 100,000 are bedridden every day. Epidemiological studies in recent years have confirmed that migraine is associated with an increased risk of stroke, heart attack and other diseases of the cardiovascular system. In Germany, an average of 8.3 million people take headache medication every day for severe headaches. But treating headaches with medication also has a downside: Anyone who takes pain medication for more than ten days every month runs the risk of developing a headache from the medication itself. For this reason, pain doctors rely on self-management and patient responsibility for chronic headache disorders such as migraines. The migraine app from the Kiel Pain Clinic offers a suitable tool for this purpose, in which only the patient decides with whom they share their data and experiences alongside the treating doctor. The TK has no access to the data.

 Note for editors:

Further information about TK's digital offerings can be found at www.tk.de , web code 723220. Information about the app from the Kiel Pain Clinic can be found at https://krebsklinik.de/2016/10/01/die-migraene-app/ . The migraine app with all content can downloaded as a full version free of charge from the Apple Store . An Android version is in preparation and will also be available free of charge with all content as a full version in the first quarter of 2017.

Press contact Pain Clinic Kiel:

Prof. Dr. Hartmut Göbel
[Email Protected]

Telephone: 0431-20099150