[Value of specialized pain treatment]

Abstract

The paper describes new forms of specifically organized headache prevention and headache therapy in Germany with the aid of two examples. It provides an overview of the clinical and economic efficiency of facilities with new forms of organization for specialized pain therapy. Their effectiveness can be seen both in a marked reduction in individual suffering and in low-cost provision of services for the institutions bearing the costs and for society. This effectiveness can be seen not only from subjective parameters by interviewing the patients, but also from objective target parameters such as resumption of work, reduction in intake of medication, cost reductions due to reduced demands on the healthcare system, avoidance of premature pensioning. By contrast, patients who do not receive specially organized treatment despite the fact that they need it display either constant suffering or even a worsening of their symptoms and an increased need for financial compensation. In view of this clear situation, specialized headache and pain therapy with a special focus on catering for the needs of chronic headache suffering is called for, both on economic and ethical grounds.