Headache Medicine 2021, 12(4):328 p-ISSN 2178-7468, e-ISSN 2763-6178
328
ASAA
DOI: 10.48208/HeadacheMed.2021.54
Headache Medicine
© Copyright 2021
Letter to editor
A Brazilian version of the headache management self-efcacy
scale: A new instrument in the Portuguese language
Mickael de Souza
1
, Michelle Dias Santos Santiago
2
, Alcylene Carla de Jesus dos Santos
3
1
Parnaiba Delta Federal University, Parnaiba, Piaui, Brazil
2
University Center, Campo Limpo Paulista - UNIFACCAMP, São Paulo, Brazil
3
University of the State of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
We would like to comment on the article entitled “Brazilian version of headache management
self-efcacy scale” by Vieira and coauthors
1
published in Headache Medicine. We would like to
congratulate the authors for this work and bring some questions.
The severity of pain and headache-related disability impair the management of patients with head-
aches, and the greater the chronicity, the more difcult the management of these patients is.
2
Thus, treatment adherence and self-efcacy beliefs are important factors in the management of
headaches, and these must be measured with adapted and validated instruments of headache,
e.g., Headache Management Self-Efcacy (HMSE), correlating it with other instruments validated
in Portuguese.
Dantas and coworkers
2
evaluated 135 patients from three tertiary headache centers in southern
Brazil. We agree with the authors regarding the possible regional bias, as the recruitment took
place in only one region of Brazil. Nevertheless, some questions arose: is the sample representative
of this population? Did a single researcher conduct the interviews? If more than one researcher was
involved, what were the intra- and inter-rater agreements? What about the level of education of the
population studied?
The Brazilian Short Version of Headache Management Self-Efcacy (HMSE-10) was considered a
valid and reliable measure of headache management self-efcacy beliefs, even not following guide-
lines proposed in the literature.
3
The Headache Management Self-Efcacy Scale's correlations with a variety of clinically relevant
measures reinforce its usefulness in clinical application and research.
Funding: No nancial support
Conflict of interest: No conicts of interest have been reported by the authors.
Authors Contribution: The authors contributed equally to the writing of the manuscript.
Mickael de Souza
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8428-4295
Michelle Dias Santos Santiago
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6388-9095
Alcylene Carla de Jesus dos Santos
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0074-6000
References
1. Vieira RVdA, Kowacs F, Londero RG, Barea LM, Grassi V, Ligório IS, . . . Gauer G. Brazilian version
of headache management self-efficacy scale.
Headache Medicine
2021;12(3):247-254 Doi:10.48208/
HeadacheMed.2021.36
2. Dantas MIO, Pereira TAB and DeSantana JM. Chronic migraine patients have low level of knowledge
about pain neurophysiology.
Brazilian Journal Of Pain
2021;4(4):Doi:10.5935/2595-0118.20210064
3. Borsa JC, Damásio BF and Bandeira DR. Adaptação e validação de instrumentos psicológicos entre
culturas: algumas considerações.
Paidéia
(Ribeirão Preto) 2012;22(53):423-432 Doi:10.1590/s0103-
863x2012000300014
Mickael de Souza
mickael_souzah@hotmail.com
Received: March 21, 2022
Accepted: March 26, 2022
Keywords:
Migraine
Self-efcacy
Disability
Psychometrics
Migraine disorders
Edited by:
Marcelo Moraes Valença