15mm for this parameter. On the basis of a power of 0.8 to
detect a significant difference and an a level of 0.05, 36
patients are required for each group. Another 4 patients
(10% of calculated sample size) were added to compensate
for dropouts. Data are presented as mean – standard deviation.
The analyses were performed with Mann-Whitney U
test and independent Student t-test for quantitative variables.
All the comparisons were two tailed. Any p values < 0.05
were considered to represent statistically significant differences.
Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS, version
16.0, software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois).
Results
Demographic variables, duration of migraine, and the
frequency of weekly headaches were similar between the
two groups (Table 1). All the recruited patients completed
the study period and were recruited into the analysis.
The frequency and severity of migraine attacks significantly
decreased in YNSA and TCA groups (Figs. 2 and 3).
However, there were no differences between the trends in
two groups. At baseline, the rates of work absence due to
headache were 47.4% in the TCA group and 55.3% in the
YNSA groups. One month after the intervention, the rates
decreased to 11.1% and 18.9%, respectively ( p > 0.05). At
baseline, the need for rescue treatment for headache was
reported in 12.5% of patients in each group. One month after
the intervention, this index was similarly decreased to 2.5%
of patients in both groups.