Personality traits in patients with cluster headache: a comparison with migraine patients.

BACKGROUND: Cluster headache (CH) has been associated with certain personality traits and lifestyle features, but there are few studies assessing personality profiles in CH. We aimed to analyze personality traits in patients with CH, and to compare them with those found in migraine. METHODS: We included all consecutive patients with CH attending 5 outpatient offices between January and December 2013. Personality traits were evaluated using the Salamanca screening test, a validated inventory assessing 11 personality traits grouped in 3 clusters. We analyzed the test results in this population, and compared them with those of a migraine population previously assessed with the same test. RESULTS: Eighty patients with CH (75 men, 5 women; mean age, 43.2 ± 9.9 years) were recruited. The reference population consisted of 164 migraine patients (30 men, 134 women; mean age 36.4 ± 12.7 years). In CH patients, the most frequent personality traits were anancastic (52.5 %), anxious (47.5 %), histrionic (45 %), schizoid (42.5 %), impulsive (32.5 %) and paranoid (30 %). When compared to migraine patients, paranoid (p < 0.001; χ2 test), and schizoid traits (p = 0.007; χ2 test) were significantly more prevalent in CH patients. In logistic regression analysis the paranoid trait was significantly associated with CH (p = 0.001; OR: 3.27, 95 % CI [1.66-6.43]). CONCLUSION: According to the Salamanca screening test, personality traits included in cluster A (odd or eccentric disorders) are more prevalent in CH patients than in a population of migraineurs. Larger studies are needed to determine whether certain personality traits are related to CH.

Impulsivity among migraine patients: Study in a series of 155 cases. / Impulsividad en pacientes migrañosos: estudio en una serie de 155 casos.

INTRODUCTION: Impulsivity is a psychological phenomenon that has not been extensively studied in headache patients. We aim to assess the presence of impulsivity in patients with chronic migraine (CM) and medication overuse (MO). PATIENTS: All patients examined in an outpatient headache clinic between January 2013 and March 2014 were included. Episodic migraine, CM, and MO were diagnosed according to ICHD-III beta criteria. We prospectively gathered demographic and clinical characteristics. Mood disorders were evaluated using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and impulsiveness was assessed with the Plutchik impulsivity scale. RESULTS: A total of 155 patients were included (22 men, 133 women). The mean age (SD) was 38.2 (11.7) years (range, 18-70); 104 patients (67.1%) presented CM and, among them, 74 (71.1%) had MO. Of the patient total, 28.4% met criteria for anxiety, 7.1% for depression and 16.1% for impulsivity. The CM group showed higher scores for HADS-anxiety (8.5 [SD 4.5] vs. 6.4 [SD 3.6], p=0.003) and HADS-depression (4.4 [4.3] vs. 1.9 [2.3], p<0.001). Among CM cases only, scores for HADS-anxiety (9.3 [4.4] vs. 6.8 [4.3], p=0.01) and HADS-Depression (5.1 [4.6] vs. 2.7 [2.9], p=0.002) were higher in patients who also had MO. We found no associations between Plutchik scale scores or presence of impulsivity with either CM or MO. CONCLUSION: Impulsivity is a common trait in our population of migraine patients, but unlike mood disorders, it is not correlated with either CM or MO.