Depression and anxiety in Chinese patients hospitalized with primary headache: A cross-sectional multicenter study

Primary headache and psychiatric diseases are bidirectional correlated. The real-world data of depression and anxiety in Chinese patients hospitalized for primary headache, considering all subtypes, remain unclear.

This study enrolled patients attending eight Chinese headache centers from October 2022 to September 2023. A WeChat mini-program was designed to collect data. Headache was diagnosed and confirmed by two headache specialists. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 were used to assess depression and anxiety.

Overall, 1963 patients with primary headache were analyzed; the prevalence of depression and anxiety was 20.1% (396/1963) and 14.8% (290/1963), respectively. Of the 1963 patients, 217 (11.1%) had history of anxiety or depression and 184 (9.4%) had undergone assessments. Patients with both primary headache and depression were more likely to be women (77.8% vs 71.9%), experience more severe headache (numerical rating scale; 6.2 ± 1.9 vs 5.7 ± 1.9) and greater impacts on quality of life (Headache Impact Test-6; 65.3± 8.5 vs 58.1 ± 11.5). Those with both primary headache and anxiety exhibited similar results and were less educated. Depression and anxiety were more prevalent in chronic migraineurs (CM) than in episodic migraineurs (36.8% vs 16.9% and 28.9% vs 12.3%, respectively) and in those with chronic (CTTH) than in those with episodic tension-type headache (30.6% vs 15.1% and 20.1% vs 12.8%, respectively).

Depression and anxiety are inadequately diagnosed and strongly associated with sex, severe headache, chronification and disability in patients with primary headache in China. To improve the health of patients with primary headaches, early screening for depression and anxiety is important.