Associations Between Depression/Anxiety and Headache Frequency in Migraineurs: A Cross‐Sectional Study
Background While migraines have been associated with emotional disturbances, it remains unknown whether the intensity of emotional expression is directly related to migraine frequency. Objective The present study investigated depression/anxiety among migraineurs. Methods This cross‐sectional study i...
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Published in | Headache Vol. 58; no. 3; pp. 407 - 415 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
01.03.2018
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Background
While migraines have been associated with emotional disturbances, it remains unknown whether the intensity of emotional expression is directly related to migraine frequency.
Objective
The present study investigated depression/anxiety among migraineurs.
Methods
This cross‐sectional study included 588 clinical outpatients in Taiwan. Migraines were stratified by attack frequency, with and without auras, and with well‐controlled confounding variables. Demographic and clinical data, including sleep characteristics, were collected. Multivariable linear regressions were employed to examine whether migraine frequency (1‐4 headache days per month, 5‐8 headache days per month, 9‐14 headache days per month, or >14 headache days per month) was associated with depression/anxiety symptoms, as indicated by the Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Subscales (HADS).
Results
BDI total scores were highest in patients with chronic migraines (mean ± SD: 13.2 ± 8.5), followed by those with high frequency (12.1 ± 8.5), medium frequency (10.6 ± 8.0), low frequency (9.1 ± 7.1), and lowest in nonmigraine controls (6.6 ± 5.9), with a significant trend in frequency (P trend < .001); similar results were obtained for HADS scores. BDI and HADS scores were independently related to high‐frequency episodic and chronic migraine frequency and to poor sleep quality. The relationship between BDI score and migraine frequency was present in both aura‐present (P trend = .001) and aura‐absent subgroups (P trend = .029).
Conclusion
Higher migraine frequency, either with or without auras, correlated with higher symptom scores of anxiety and depression. |
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Bibliography: | None. Funding/Support This study was supported in part by grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (MOST 105‐2314‐B‐016‐004‐, MOST 106‐2314‐B‐016‐007‐MY2) and Tri‐Service General Hospital (TSGH‐C101‐159, TSGH‐C106‐068). Conflict of Interest Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Tri‐Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center (TSGH‐IRB‐1‐105‐05‐006). Patient consent was obtained from all individual participants in this study. ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0017-8748 1526-4610 |
DOI: | 10.1111/head.13215 |