Insufficient Sleep in Tension-Type Headache: A Population Study

Sufficient sleep is an essential part of good health and well-being. Tension-type headache (TTH) is the most common type of primary headache and has negative impacts on the quality of life and work performance. We aimed to determinethe relationship between TTH and insufficient sleep in the general population.

This study used data from the Korean Headache Sleep Study, which was a population-based survey about headache and sleep among Korean adults. Insufficient sleep was defined when the discrepancy between sleep need and average sleep duration was at least 1 hour.

Among the 2,695 included subjects, 570 (21.2%) and 727 (27.0%) were classified as having TTH and insufficient sleep, respectively. The prevalence of insufficient sleep was significantly higher among subjects with TTH than among those without headaches (28.8% vs. 20.4%). For subjects with TTH, the scores on a visual analogue scale (4.7±1.8 vs. 4.3±1.9, mean±SD) and the Headache Impact Test-6 (44.9±7.0 vs. 43.6±6.1) were much higher in subjects with insufficient sleep than in those without insufficientsleep. Multivariable analyses revealed that insomnia [odds ratio (OR)=2.1], poor sleep quality (OR=1.7), and short sleep duration (OR=6.9) were significantly associated with insufficient sleep in subjects with TTH.

Our findings suggest that insufficient sleep is prevalent among subjects with TTH and is linked to an exacerbation of TTH. Therefore, the proper evaluation and management of sleep may lead to the better management of TTH.