Migraine equivalents and related symptoms, psychological profile and headache features: which relationship?

The Journal of Headache and Pain

Research Article

Alessandro Capuano¹  Federico Vigevano¹  Samuela Tarantino¹  Massimiliano Valeriani²  Cristiana De Ranieri³  Simonetta Gentile³  Valentina Gagliardi³  Cecilia Dionisi³ 

[1]Headache Center, Division of Neurology, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesú, IRCCS, Piazza Sant’Onofrio 4, 00165, Rome, Italy

[2]Headache Center, Division of Neurology, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesú, IRCCS, Piazza Sant’Onofrio 4, 00165, Rome, Italy

[3]Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

[4]Unit of Clinical Psychology, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, IRCCS, Piazza Sant’Onofrio 4, Rome, Italy

关键词: Children;    Migraine equivalents;    Psychological factors;    Anxiety;    Somatization;    Hypochondria;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s10194-015-0536-2

 received in 2015-03-31, accepted in 2015-06-01,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMigraine equivalents are common clinical conditions in children suffering from headache. Very few studies dealt with the psychological profile of children/adolescents with migraine equivalents. Our main aim was to compare the psychological profile between migraine children with and without migraine equivalents. Moreover, as secondary aim, exclusively in children with migraine equivalents, we investigated the possible relationship between migraine attack frequency and intensity and psychological factors.MethodsWe enrolled 136 young migraineurs. They were divided in two groups (patients with and without migraine equivalents). The psychological profile was assessed by means of SAFA Anxiety and Somatization questionnaires.ResultsMigraine equivalents were present in 101 patients (74.3 %). Anxiety (p = 0.024) and somatization (p = 0.001) levels, but not hypochondria (p = 0.26), were higher in patients with migraine equivalents. In children with migraine equivalents, a low frequency of attacks was related to separation anxiety (p = 0.034).ConclusionsMigraine equivalents patients tend to feel more fearful and to experience more shyness. This, together with the tendency to somatization, may lead them to become vigilant in attachment relationships with their caregivers.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Tarantino et al. 2015. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.