Alexithymia Increases Pericranial and Cervical Muscle Tenderness in Women with Migraine.
J Clin Med
; 13(10)2024 May 08.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38792315
ABSTRACT
Background/Objectives:
Alexithymia is characterized by a deficit in identifying and communicating feelings. Emerging evidence suggests that alexithymia is highly prevalent in migraine, in a complex interplay with psychiatric comorbidity. Pericranial/cervical muscle tenderness is a remarkable clinical feature in a large proportion of migraine patients. This pilot study aimed at investigating the relationship between alexithymia and pericranial/cervical muscle tenderness in female migraineurs.Methods:
A total of 42 female patients fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for migraine were enrolled into this pilot, observational, cross-sectional study after informed consent was obtained. Each patient underwent a psychological assessment to identify any alexithymia by means of TAS-20, anxiety/mood comorbidity (by means of STAI-Y1 STAI-Y2, BDI-II), and migraine-related disability (by means of HIT-6), and a physical cranial/cervical musculoskeletal examination. Palpation of pericranial and cervical muscles was carried out in the standardized manner. A Cumulative Muscle Tenderness (CUM) score (0-6) was calculated for each patient. A multivariate analysis was performed to investigate any association amongst the TAS-20 score, the CUM score, and the following covariates BDI-II, STAI-Y1, STAI-Y2, and HIT-6 scores, age, disease duration, monthly migraine days, and average head pain intensity in the previous three months.Results:
Overall, 35.6% of the sample had alexithymia. The multivariate analysis detected a linear and independent relationship between the TAS-20 and CUM scores, with a statistically significant (p = 0.017) association.Conclusions:
This pilot study suggests that alexithymia plays a role in increasing pericranial/cervical muscle tenderness in migraine, independently from psychiatric comorbidity. A novel therapeutical approach, targeting alexithymia, may well reduce muscular tenderness in female migraineurs.
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Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Clin Med
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Italia