HEADACHE SYMPTOMS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE OF HEADACHE-PRONE INDIVIDUALS - A COMPARISON OF CLINIC PATIENTS AND CONTROLS

Objective: To compare the psychological characteristics of headache su fferers who seek medical assistance with those who do not. Subjects: F ifty-one patients seeking medical help for their headache and 53 contr ols who had not sought medical assistance for their headache within th e past 2 years. All subjects completed a structured interview that gat hered headache data according to the International Headache Society cl assification criteria and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Invent ory-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 outpatien t 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 clini c patients rated their ''most severe headache'' as more intense than d id controls. On the MMPI-2, the clinic soup scored significantly highe r on the Hypochondriasis, Depression, Hysteria, Psychasthenia, and Soc ial Introversion scales than did controls. Severity of headache was no t 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. Conclusio ns: 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.