ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Headache disorders have been associated with
anxiety and
depressive disorders. The aim of this study was to assess symptoms of
anxiety and
depression in a large sample of individuals with different
headache disorders (HDs) in order to determine whether their frequency differs by
headache type.
METHODS:
Consecutive individuals with
headache attending a
headache outpatient clinic were interviewed with the HAM-D and HAM-A, along with age,
sex, and
education matched non-
headache individuals.
RESULTS:
Individuals numbering 2673 with
headache (
females 71.2%) and 464 non-
headache individuals (
females 70.9%) were interviewed (with participation rates of 98.3% and 91.0%, respectively).
Migraine was diagnosed in 49.7%,
tension-type headache in 38%,
cluster headache 5.2%, and
medication overuse (MO) in 21.8%. Participants with HD scored more in HAM-A (OR = 4.741, CI95% 3.855-5.831, p < 0.001) and HAM-D
scales (OR = 2.319, CI95% 1.892-2.842, p < 0.001) than non-
headache individuals. Participants with chronic HDs (≥15 days with
headache for ≥3 consecutive months; 52.5%) scored higher for both HAM-A (OR = 1.944, CI95% 1.640-2.303, p < 0.001) and HAM-D (OR = 1.625, CI95% 1.359-1.944, p < 0.001) than those with episodic HDs (33.1%), as did participants with MO vs. participants without MO (OR = 3.418, CI95% 2.655-4.399, p < 0.001 for HAM-A, OR = 3.043, CI95% 2.322-3.986, p < 0.001 for HAM-D).
Female and low-educated participants scored higher on both
scales.
CONCLUSION:
Because symptoms of
anxiety and
depression are substantial in people with HD, the treating
physicians should look out for such symptoms and manage them appropriately.
