Online Appendix A.

Example Screening Tool

Citation, Title, and Abstract Screening

1. Does the title or abstract NOT shows that review was conducted?

a. Yes: continue screening

b. No: stop screening

2. Does the title or abstract indicate that this is NOT a editorial, letter, correction or erratum?

a. Yes: continue screening

b. No: stop screening

3. Does the title or abstract indicate that the study is about any kind of chronic headache?

a. Yes: continue screening

b. No: stop screening

4. Does the title or abstract NOT indicate that the study is about any kind of secondary chronic

headache(except Medication Overuse Headache)?

a. Yes: continue screening

b. No: stop screening

- Key point: secondary headaches include those that have a underlying cause, these include: trauma

or injury to head/neck, cranial/cervical vascular disease, nonvascular intracranial disease, substance abuse,

infection, psychiatric condition, or any other disease that appeared with the headache.

Abstract Screening

5. Does the abstract indicate that the sample came from the general population?

a. Yes or Unsure/Unclear: continue screening

b. No: stop screening

-For example: participants are only from pregnant patients or patients in a tertiary pain clinic,

we also exclude hospital-based studies

6
6.a Does the title/abstract indicate that this study

provides a prevalence or incidence measure? 6.b Does the title/abstract indicate that this study

a. Yes or Unsure/Unclear: continue screening gives information about a risk factor for headache?

-Key words: prevalence, incidence, a. Yes or Unsure/Unclear: continue screening

follow-up, epidemiology, cohort, -Key words: risk factor, Relative

population-based Risks, follow-up, epidemiology, odds

b. No: continue to 6b ratio

-Key point: prevalence must be from b. No: stop screening

the one representative from a large -

population, not a subset(e.g.

headache prevalence in depressed

patients)

Decision: Should this article be included?

a. Yes, all 9 screening questions answered Yes or Unclear

b. No, at least one answers definitely “No”