Novartis, Healint study uses self tracking app to examine migraine, mental health connection

MobiHealthNews/Laura Lovett

A recent presentation by headache-focused digital health company Healint and pharma giant Novartis employed Healint’s migraine tracking app Migraine Buddy to look at how migraines interact with anxiety and depression. The research found that chronic migraines may induce anxiety and depression instead of the other way around, contradicting pervious thought. 

Researchers were able to look at the responses of more than 1 million users of the migraine tracking app, according to a statement. In the presentation given at the Fourth Congress of the European Academy of Neurology, researchers zeroed in on a sample of 43,189 users' responses.

"Anxiety and depressive moods are often considered as triggers of a migraine attack for people who live with this complex condition," Francois Cadiou, founder and CEO of Healint, said in a statement. "Healint’s unique real-world evidence suggests, however, that anxiety and depression may result from migraine, not the other way around. Our goal with Migraine Buddy’s innovative tracking capabilities is always to help doctors identify the best treatment choice for each patient, using patient-reported real-world and clinical evidence. The combination of the right treatments and lifestyle adjustments can yield the best outcome for the patient, and reduce the societal and economic burden of migraines.”

Read the full article on MobiHealthNews and the full press release here.