Objective
To compare the psychological characteristics of headache sufferers who seek medical assistance with those who do not.
Subjects
Fifty-one patients seeking medical help for their headache and 53 controls who had not sought medical assistance for their headache within the past 2 years. All subjects completed a structured interview that gathered headache data according to the International Headache Society classification criteria and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Revised (MMPI-2).
Design
A 2x2 design was employed. Subject group (patient vs control) was the first factor and headache type (migraine vs mixed) was the second.
Setting
University medical center outpatient headache clinic.
Results
Patient and control groups did not differ in age, education, gender, or number of individuals with migraine. The only headache characteristic distinguishing the groups was that clinic patients rated their "most severe headache" as more intense than did controls. On the MMPI-2, the clinic group scored significantly higher on the Hypochondriasis, Depression, Hysteria, Psychasthenia, and Social Introversion scales than did controls. Severity of headache was not responsible for this difference, since it was used as a covariate in the analysis. There were no significant differences on the MMPI-2 for headache type, nor were there any significant interactions.
Conclusions
These results were discussed in light of previous studies. It was concluded that psychological characteristics are important factors in the decision to seek medical help for headache.
