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Abstract

Abstract: DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): At least 45 million Americans suffer from severe headaches annually that seriously impact their work and daily life. Headache diaries are an integral part of headache management, assisting patients and care providers with diagnosis, identification of triggers, and assessment of therapeutic regimens. Current paper diaries are non-standardized, cumbersome, and difficult to analyze and interpret. The purpose of this Phase II proposal is to develop and evaluate software for a standardized, customizable electronic headache diary to collect daily information about headache attacks and related events in clinical and research populations. In Phase I, prototype software was developed to capture detailed information on daily headaches and tested on headache clinic patients. In Phase II the software will be expanded to include information on possible triggers and more detailed medication data. Testing will be performed on potential end users: headache sufferers and health care providers. Features will include data entry by screen tap, reminders to enter and transmit data, daily health tips, encrypted wireless data transmission, and on-line clinical data summaries. The software, AheadPC, will be designed for mobile computing devices that are convenient and easy to use, and through innovative Internet server technology, will provide interactive on-line clinical data summaries to headache patients and care providers. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Annual direct medical costs for migraine care are estimated at $1 billion per year in the Unites States (Hu et al., 1999). Data collected prospectively about headaches is critical to diagnosing and managing patients. AheadPC aims to provide a standard, clinically valid, method of collecting headache data on a handheld computer with results viewable by ID to both patients and clinicians via the World Wide Web. With an estimated 45 million Americans experiencing severe headaches per year, the market for AheadPC is very strong in a variety of areas, including use by individuals, practitioners, and researchers.

Thesaurus Terms:
computer program /software, computer system design /evaluation, headache, personal log /diary
data collection, data management, patient monitoring device, personal computer
clinical research, human subject

Institution:	NEW ENGLAND RESEARCH INSTITUTES, INC.
	9 GALEN ST
	WATERTOWN, MA 02472
Fiscal Year:	2002
Department:
Project Start:	30-SEP-1999
Project End:	31-AUG-2003
ICD:	NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE
IRG:	ZRG1