A battery of standardized psychometric tests was administered to a group of 47 episodic tension-type headache sufferers and 47 headache-free controls. Compared to controls, headache subjects showed higher levels of anxiety, depression, and anger/hostility. The groups did not differ significantly on a measure of anger expressed toward persons or objects, but headache subjects showed significantly greater levels of suppressed anger. The results provide objective data that are in general agreement with predictions derived from psychosomatic theories about the interrelationships among anxiety,

We describe a new collaborative stepped care treatment model for depression in primary care that was recently tested in Project IMPACT, a multi-site, randomized, controlled study with older adults (Unutzer,

The Headache Classification Committee of the International Headache Society recently issued revised diagnostic criteria for headache disorders. According to these criteria, tension-type headache may be subclassified depending upon whether pericranial muscle disorder is found. The presence or absence of pericranial muscle disorder was to be determined by palpating the muscles for tenderness or by measuring electromyographic (EMG) activity. In this study, pericranial muscles were palpated, and EMG activity was measured in 27 episodic tension-type headache patients and 32 headache-free controls. All testing was done while the subjects were in a headache-free state. Muscle tenderness was positively associated with the diagnosis of tension-type headache. Headache subjects exhibited significantly higher levels of temporal EMG activity compared to controls, but EMG data were of little use in assigning individual subjects to diagnostic groups. Measures of muscle tenderness and hyperactivity were only weakly associated. Pericranial muscle tenderness and elevated EMG activity may index different aspects of abnormal muscle function.

Thirty-four subjects meeting diagnostic criteria for episodic tension-type headache and 42 who rarely experienced headaches participated in two laboratory sessions in which cephalic electromyographic (EMG) activity, electrodermal activity, heart rate, and finger temperature were recorded. Subjects performed relaxation, choice reaction time, psychomotor tracking, voluntary muscle contraction, and cold pressor tasks. Headache subjects showed significantly greater EMG activity than controls during baseline and stressful task performance. During relaxation, both groups reduced EMG activity from baseline levels, and there was no significant difference in EMG level between the groups during relaxation. Headache subjects reported higher levels of subjective anxiety, depression, anger, and stress than controls. Headache subjects also reported higher levels of pain than controls, and headache subjects reported greater pain during stressful task performance relative to baseline and recovery periods.

Twelve subjects who met diagnostic criteria for episodic tension-type headache and nine subjects who rarely or never suffered from headaches wore a computer-controlled electromyographic (EMG) activity recorder in their natural environment for 48 to 96 consecutive hours. EMG activity of the posterior neck or frontal muscles was recorded 24 hr per day. During waking hours, subjects rated their perceived levels of stress, pain, and negative affect at 30-min intervals. The EMG activity of headache and control subjects did not differ significantly, and EMG activity did not covary with stress, pain, or negative affect. Cross-correlations among EMG activity, pain, and stress revealed little evidence of leading, contemporaneous, or lagging relationships. Interrupted time series analysis showed no consistent muscle hyperactivity during a headache attack compared to a headache-free baseline period.