Comparison of Pain-Related and Psychological Variables between Acute and Chronic Migraine Patients, and Factors Affecting Headache Chronicity

Abstract

<span><strong>Background: </strong><span>Migraine headache is classified as acute or chronic. In recent years, efforts have been<br /><span>made to identify the factors that might predispose individuals to develop the chronic-type headache.<br /><span>The present study aimed to draw a comparison between patients with acute and chronic migraine in<br /><span>terms of demographic, pain-related, and psychological variables. In addition, we also investigated<br /><span>factors affecting headache chronicity in such patients.<br /><span><strong>Methods: </strong><span>The present cross-sectional study was conducted during 2017-2018. The target sample<br /><span>consisted of 250 patients with acute or chronic migraine who referred to various clinics affiliated<br /><span>to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS), Shiraz, Iran, recruited by convenience sampling.<br /><span>All the participants filled in the questionnaires related to demographic characteristics, pain intensity,<br /><span>disability, depression, emotional intelligence, and anger. The data were analyzed using SPSS software<br /><span>(version 22.0) with <span><em>t </em><span>test, Chi-square test, and logistic regression analysis. P<span>statistically significant.<br /><span><strong>Results: </strong><span>Patients suffering from chronic migraine experienced higher levels of disability, depression,<br /><span>anger, and had lower levels of emotional intelligence compared to those with acute migraine. Based<br /><span>on the logistic regression analysis, variables that had a significant effect on headache chronicity were<br /><span>female gender (OR=5.81), married status (OR=3.77), patients with lower level of education (OR=0.26),<br /><span>headache duration (OR=1.53), disability (OR=0.28), depression (OR=3.66), and anger (OR=5.04).<br /><span><strong>Conclusion: </strong><span>Variables such as disability, depression, and lack of anger control were among the key<br /><span>factors associated with headache chronicity in migraine patients.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>