Psychiatric disorders and muscle tenderness in episodic and chronic migraine

This review first reports on the data concerning the relationship between migraine and personality traits and psychiatric disorders. The relationship between migraine and tenderness of the pericranial and cervical muscles is then discussed. In one study, a psychologic assessment was performed in 56 women with migraine, and the Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory (MMPI) and State Trait Anxiety Inventory were administered at baseline (T0) and after 6-7 years (T2). Frequency, severity and duration of migraine were recorded at T0, after treatment (T1) and at T2, and their relationship to the prevalence of depression, MMPI and State Trait Anxiety Inventory data were examined. Pain parameters improved in all patients in T0-1, but were higher at T2 in patients with depression at T0. The patients whose migraine improved at T2 had significantly lower MMPI and State Trait Anxiety Inventory scores at T0 and T2. Moreover, the prevalence of depression of the patients whose migraine improved at T2 was 37.5% at T0 and decreased to 12.5% at T2. The authors subsequently studied the function of the frontal lobe in 23 female patients previously treated for chronic migraine and 23 controls by applying three neuropsychologic tests (gambling task, tower of hanoi-3 and object alternation test). The patient group performed significantly worse on the tower of hanoi-3 and the object alternation test. In order to assess the extent to which muscle tenderness may relate to psychiatric disorders in patients with migraine and tension-type headache, diagnosed according International Headache Society criteria [2004], a psychologic assessment was performed and palpation tenderness scores calculated for the pericranial and cervical muscles in 459 patients. In total, 125 patients had frequent episodic migraine, 97 had chronic migraine, 82 had frequent episodic tension-type headache and chronic tension-type headache was present in 83. In a further 72 patients, both episodic migraine and episodic tension-type headache were present. The main finding was a positive relationship between muscle tenderness and psychiatric disorders in patients with episodic migraine alone or associated with episodic tension-type headache.