Migraine: treatments, comorbidities, and quality of life, in the USA

Abstract

This study sought to characterize the experience of stress, treatment patterns, and medical and disability profile in the migraineur population to better understand how the experience of migraines impacts the social and psychological functioning of this group. A 30-minute self-report survey was presented via a migraine-specific website with data collection occurring between May 15 and June 15, 2012. Recruitment for the study was done through online advertisements. In total, 2,907 individuals began the survey and 2,735 met the inclusion criteria for the study. The sample was predominantly female (92.8%). Migraine-associated stress was correlated with length of time since first onset of symptoms (P<0.01) and number of symptoms per month (P<0.01). Disorders related to stress, such as depression (P<0.01) and anxiety (P<0.01), were also positively correlated with the measured stress resulting from migraines. Migraine-associated stress must be understood as a multidimensional experience with broader impacts of stress on an individual correlating much more highly with negative mental and physical health profiles. Stress resulting from frequent migraine headaches may contribute to the development of medical and psychological comorbidities and may be a part of a cyclical relationship wherein stress is both a cause and effect of the social and medical impairments brought about by migraine.

Associations Between Sleep Quality and Migraine Frequency

“…24 Here, we found that high BDI, HADS anxiety, and HADS depression scores were associated with higher migraine frequency (linear trends). Schürks et al showed that RLS prevalence in migraine ranged from 8.7% to 39.0% and identified RLS as an important comorbidity of migraine.…”

A critical review of manual therapy use for headache disorders: prevalence, profiles, motivations, communication and self-reported effectiveness

“…Massage therapy use for those with migraine ranged from 2.0 to 29.7% (mean: 15.6%) within the general population [49, 50, 71] and from 10.1 to 56.4% (mean: 33.9%) within headache-clinic populations [53, 54, 72, 73]. Massage/acupressure use for those reported as headache within headache/pain clinic patient populations ranged from 12.0 to 54.0% (mean: 32.5%) [58–60, 70].…”

Chronic Migraine Headaches: Role of Smoking and Locus of Control

“…Therefore, providers who treat individuals with comorbid migraines and nicotine addiction should educate their patients about the migraine frequency-smoking connection and provide resources to help them quit. Moreover, providers should refer those patients and patients with a lower sense of control over their migraine to a psychologist to increase their self-efficacy, particularly in the area of pain management [25][26][27]. By only providing medications to those patients, providers are inadvertently enabling and feeding the patient's external locus of control around medications, headaches, and treatment options as well as tacitly approving of the smoking behaviors that are causing harm and are linked to increased migraine frequency.…”