Parkinson's Disease and Headaches: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study evaluated headaches among Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and whether there was any correlation between the motor symptoms and the severity of the headaches presented.

Forty to 83% of PD patients are affected by pain. Despite this high prevalence of pain, only a few studies have addressed the headaches of these patients.

This was a cross-sectional study. Consecutive patients with Parkinson disease were included. Semi-structured interview; the Epworth sleepiness scale; the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Part III (motor examination); and the Hoehn and Yahr scale were used.

About 46 patients were included, 52% were men, mean age was 66 ± 11 years. Forty-three patients had headaches, 12/46 (26%), migraines, 31/46 (67%) had tension-type headaches. We found no association between the headache frequency (median: 0.5; 0.5 to 7.5 vs 0.5; 0.5 to 8 days/3 months; P = .757) or intensity (median: 5; 4 to 8 vs 5.5, 4 to 9; P = .514) and the different stages of the PD (Hoehn and Yahr scale: ≤2.5 vs >2.5). There was no correlation between UPDRS score and the intensity (r = -0.099; P = .530) or frequency of headaches (r = -0.136; P = .373). No association was found between the grade of neck stiffness (0 vs 1 and 2 vs 3 and 4) and the headache frequency (Median: 0; 0 to 3 vs 3.5; 0 to 12.5 vs 0; 0 to 6 days/3 months; P = .074) or intensity (Median: 5; 3 to 9 vs 5; 4 to 6 vs 7; 4.5 to 9; P = .434). Twelve patients said that their headaches started after PD had been diagnosed. There was no difference regarding the frequency and characteristics of headaches and PD characteristics between these patients and the other patients with previous headaches.

In this sample of PD patients, there is no association between headache and PD.