OBJECTIVE: This study compares the impact of patient education with individualized headache management on health-related quality of life. METHODS: We compared baseline and one-month post-intervention scores from the SF-36 from two previously reported study groups – headache patients at a headache clinic (Individualized therapy group) and headache sufferers attending headache seminars at their workplaces (Education group). Research using the SF-36 determined that the domains of role – physical, bodily pain, role – emotional, and social functioning are most impacted by chronic headache. For ethical reasons, the individualized treatment group was not treated with education alone, therefore their scores are shown for comparison only. No statistical analysis was performed. RESULTS: 461 consecutive new patients seeking headache care at The Cleveland Clinic Headache Center were compared with 368 headache sufferers attending headache seminars at their workplaces. Both groups had similar ages, gender mix, and duration of headache. The individualized therapy group had significantly lower SF-36 scores at baseline. Change from baseline SF-36 score Domain Education Individualized Therapy Physical Functioning 0.3 2.5 Role – Physical 6.1 11.4 Bodily Pain 3.9 9.1 General Health 1.8 1.8 Vitality 4.4 2.8 Social Functioning 5.5 9.2 Role – Emotional 7.5 7.5 Mental Health 1.9 3.2 CONCLUSIONS: The patient education component of headache treatment has a measurable and clinically significant impact on health-related quality of life as measured by the SF-36. Patient education appears to have as significant a role as comprehensive treatment in the key headache domain of role – emotional. In other mental health domains, education alone appears to have a major influence on improvement. In physical domains such as bodily pain and role – physical, the impact of pharmacologic therapy appears to have a greater impact.