ORIGINAL Drug-dependence behaviour and outcome of medication-overuse headache after treatment

Abstract This study aimed at determining the causes of failure of the different proposed strategies to ensure improvement of medication-overuse headache (MOH) patients, since they have not been investigated so far, especially with regard to aspects related to cognitive and behavioural aspects of symptomatic drugs overused by them. One hundred and twenty in-patients, 82 females (68.3 %), median age 49 (42–56) years, affected by MOH were admitted to the study and treated with abrupt dis-continuation of the medication overused, a 6-day in-patient detoxification regimen and an immediate start of person-alized prophylactic treatment, then followed for 1 year. Leeds Dependence Questionnaire (LDQ), among all the clinical variables, was administered at baseline and at 1-year follow-up visit to assess substance dependence. O