Pain catastrophising in a population of patients with migraine

Introduction: Catastrophic thought refers to a negative cognitive and emotional response to pain, and is thought to contribute to pain chronification. We aimed to evaluate pain catastrophising PC in a population of patients with migraine.

Methods: We collected sociodemographic data and clinical data on migraine from patients attended at a tertiary hospital headache unit between January and June 2015. PC was measured with the Spanish-language version of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). We compared presence of PC in patients with episodic and chronic migraine, and its correlation with clinical impact (measured by the Headache Impact Test-6 [HIT-6] scale), comorbid depression and anxiety (measured with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]), and the presence of medication overuse.

Results: The study included 96 patients (16 men and 80 women); 67 (69.8%) were diagnosed with chronic migraine and 29 (30.2%) with episodic migraine. Migraine impact was at least moderate (HIT-6≥56) in 85.4% of cases, and 24% exceeded the cut-off point for anxiety and 9.4% for depression. A total of 34.4% presented PC. Patients with chronic migraine scored higher than those with episodic symptoms on the HADS for anxiety (P<.001) and depression (P<.001) and on the HIT-6 (P<.001).

Conclusions: PC is common among patients with migraine. It is related to migraine severity and to comorbid anxiety and depression. PC does not appear to increase the likelihood of migraine chronification or medication overuse.