Table 3.

Core characteristics 2

Citation	Aims of study	Qualitative methods/analysis	Interview questions
Coeytaux et al,26	To identify which clinical outcomes are most important to patients with frequent headaches; to inform clinicians which of the many available headache assessment instruments may be helpful to assess meaningful change over time from the patient’s perspective	Focus groups	Participants were asked to (1) describe what their headaches were like and how their headaches affected their day-to-day activities; (2) describe other symptoms or sensations usually accompanying their headaches; (3) indicate some of the signs or indicators that their headaches were lessening; (4) delineate which of those symptoms from which they most wanted to get relief. They were asked if they thought quality of life was something separate from their pain severity. They were given copies of questionnaires completed during the study and asked which ones were helpful to determine whether they got better over time.
Jonsson et al,27	To explore how individuals with medication overuse headache use medications and other strategies to manage headaches in their daily lives, and their thoughts about their own use of acute medication	Grounded theory, interviews,	The opening question was ‘Could you tell me about your headaches?’ Participants were asked questions about their headaches and daily life, strategies to manage headaches, use of medication and thoughts about using less medication. They were encouraged to tell their stories freely and probing questions were used to obtain as much detail as possible.
Lonardi,29	To explore the chronic headache experience as an invisible disease through narrative reconstruction	Grounded theory, interviews	A loose interview guide from clues collected from the first patients (In abstract)—asked how participants became aware of the disease, illness and sickness aspects of their headaches
Tenhunen and Elander,28	To gain insight into the psychological processes which mediate quality of life impairments in chronic daily headache (CDH)	Grounded theory, interviews	Asked about the impact of CDH on occupational, physical, psychological and social areas of life