Correlation between migraine subtypes and depression

• Published in: Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria Vol. 66; no. 3A; pp. 485 - 487
• Main Authors: Domingues, Renan Barros, Costa, Esther Angélica Coelho, Silva, Jr, Ariovaldo da, Domingues, Simone Aires, Leal, Juliana Cardoso, Gomez, Rodrigo Santiago, Teixeira, Jr, Antônio Lúcio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Brazil 01.09.2008
• Subjects: Adult; Analgesics - therapeutic use; Brazil - epidemiology; Chronic Disease; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Female; Humans; Middle Aged; Migraine Disorders - drug therapy; Migraine Disorders - psychology; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Risk Factors; Severity of Illness Index; Statistics, Nonparametric; Brazil
• ISSN: 0004-282X

This study has evaluated depression in patients with episodic migraine (n=98), chronic migraine without medication overuse (n=23), and chronic migraine with medication overuse (n=57). The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to evaluate depressive symptoms in these three groups. The mean BDI score obtained in all patients was higher than that observed in asymptomatic subjects (episodic migraine=16.09+/-11.79, chronic migraine with medication overuse=18.91+/-12.53, chronic migraine without medication overuse=19.83+/-14.79). This finding corroborates previous studies suggesting a co-morbid association between migraine and depression. Depression did not seem to be crucial in the transformation of migraine as the median BDI scores did not differ significantly between patients with episodic and chronic migraine. The median BDI scores of the patients with chronic migraine with medication overuse and that patients with chronic migraine without medication overuse were similar as well. Therefore, medication overuse behavior may not be related with depression.