The comic character Mütze has a headache and goes to the doctor. He has lots of tips on how to prevent headaches from occurring in the first place. With wit and charm, the endearing character "Mütze" takes young people on a journey of discovery: Where do headaches come from? What role do medications play? What does "prevention" mean, and who can help avoid headaches? But the comic also motivates readers without headaches to learn more and take preventative measures. "Mütze is fed up with headaches" was developed by pain specialist Prof. Hartmut Göbel and teacher Karin Frisch. The project is aimed at children and young people between the ages of 9 and 16, as well as their families.
The "Mütze Campaign – Childhood Without Headaches" provides seventh-grade classes with free teaching materials on headache prevention. Twenty-one health insurance companies support the project nationwide as part of their statutory prevention mandate. The results of the accompanying scientific survey demonstrate high rates of headaches and inadequate care for children and young people affected by them. With a new animated film, the initiators are creating a resource that provides students with up-to-date information about the causes and treatment of headaches.
Headache at school 2016
"73.9 percent of seventh graders complain of primary headaches. The most common forms are migraine and tension-type headaches," reports Prof. Dr. med. Dipl. Psych. Hartmut Göbel, Director of the Kiel Pain Clinic and scientific director of the study. "Over 50 percent of those affected report migraine symptoms – this is significantly more than previous studies suggested." As a result, 78.7 percent of children with tension headaches and 62.1 percent of those with migraine-like symptoms have not yet consulted a doctor and lack professional knowledge.

Class 7b of the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Gymnasium Wernigerode is participating in "Mütze hat den Kopfschmerz satt" (Mütze is fed up with headaches). Here, the students learn essential information about dealing with headaches, as well as their prevention and treatment, during their biology lessons.

Class 7b of the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Gymnasium Wernigerode is participating in “Mütze hat den Kopfschmerz satt” (Mütze is fed up with headaches). Here, the students learn essential information about dealing with headaches, as well as their prevention and treatment, during their biology lessons.

Professor Hartmut Göbel from the Kiel Pain Clinic and Karin Frisch from the non-profit Center for Research and Diagnostics in Implants, Inflammation, and Pain (ZIES gGmbH) are addressing this trend with a headache prevention campaign for children and adolescents, which is already being implemented in 15 German states. They have developed three lesson plans with all the necessary materials. "Through this teaching unit, which seventh-grade classes can order free of charge, students, teachers, and parents learn how they can effectively prevent headaches by making changes in the daily lives of those affected. The lessons highlight the risks of unreflective medication use and emphasize the benefits of targeted counseling and prevention," explains the teacher, describing the concept of "Action Hat – Childhood Without Headaches."
The initiators of "Action Hat" aim not only to strengthen individual health literacy. They believe that the situation of children and adolescents suffering from headaches can only be sustainably improved if many relevant stakeholders participate. "That's why we are deliberately involving school principals, teachers, and parents in our campaign and seeking dialogue with ministries and authorities," emphasizes Karin Frisch. Professor Hartmut Göbel, who contributed to the development of the International Classification of Headache Disorders, sees a need for further training among physicians: "Only 29.9 percent of those surveyed with symptoms typical of migraine know their diagnosis; they have no name for their headaches and no concept of what they should know. Among students with tension headaches, the figure was even slightly lower at 26.3 percent."
The data is based on a written survey of 7th-grade classes participating in the "Action Hat" program. A two-stage representative sample (N=1,102) of questionnaires returned by June 2016 was analyzed. The survey will continue until July 2018. The next, more detailed analysis of the data is planned for May 2017.
The "Action Hat – Childhood Without Headaches" campaign is currently being implemented in the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia.
The following ministers/senators have assumed patronage of the campaign in their respective states: Minister of Social Affairs Cornelia Rundt (Lower Saxony), State Minister for Social Affairs and Consumer Protection Barbara Klepsch (Saxony), Senator for Health and Consumer Protection Cornelia Prüfer-Storcks (Hamburg), and Senator for Science, Health, and Consumer Protection Prof. Dr. Eva Quante-Brandt (Bremen).

Contact:
ZIES non-profit GmbH: Karin Frisch, +49 171 198 65 90, info@zies-frankfurt.de
http://www.aktion-muetze.de/
Kiel Pain Clinic: Prof. Dr. Hartmut Göbel, +49 431 20099150 hg@schmerzklinik.de
https://schmerzklinik.de/