Impulsivity prevalence in migraine patients without and with medication overuse

Migraine is one of the most common disorders in neurological clinical practice and is part of the group of primary headaches. It often affects individuals in the age group of 25-55 years, when people are at their peak of economic productivity. Many patients ultimately overuse analgesics. Overuse is defined by the use of analgesics for at least 15 times a month - within a minimal three-month period. Impulsivity and migraine cause losses in the lives of individuals suffering from them, as they can compromise these individuals' social, emotional, and professional spheres. Regarding the professional sphere, it results in economic losses compared with the overall population.

To investigate the presence of impulsive behavior in patients with migraine and with medication-overuse migraine.

Cross-sectional study on 210 female and male patients; 140 were diagnosed with migraine according to criteria of the International Classification of Headache Disorders and were subdivided into two groups (70 patients each). One of these groups was composed of medication-overuse patients; the control group was composed of non-migraine patients (70 patients). All patients were evaluated with the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS-11).

The group of migraine patients accounted for the highest impulsivity level, followed by the control group and, finally, by the medication-overuse group. However, these differences did not attain statistical significance.

It was not possible to establish a clear connection between migraine and impulsive behavior. Association was higher among migraineurs without medication overuse.