Association of depression,anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder with migraine: Data from Kosovo

Introduction

Migraine is ranked as the seventh leading cause of disability worldwide, and it is characterized by a manifestation of combined neurological, gastrointestinal, and autonomic symptoms linked with different provoking factors.

Aim of the study

This study investigates the association between migraine and PTSD, depression and anxiety in the Kosovo population during the post-war period.

Material and methods

273 war survivors with headache were enrolled in the study and were divided into two groups: 153 individuals with confirmed migraine (the study group) and 120 individuals with non-migraine headaches (control group). All individuals were evaluated using the ICHD-II 2004 diagnostic criteria for migraine, as well as the mini-test for PTSD, MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) for psychological evaluation, PAI (Personality Assessment Inventory) and Hamilton Scale for Depression.

Results

Among migraine patients, depressive disorders were present in 27.5% of patients, anxiety was found in 60.8%, and PTSD was present in 39.2%. While the prominence of depression was not different between groups, anxiety was significantly more common (p < 0.05) in women from the control group. PTSD was significantly more common (p < 0.001) in migraine patients overall, whereas the difference in PTSD prevalence between women from the migraine and control groups came close to significance (p = 0.05). Females in the migraine group had higher incidences of aura (50% vs. 25.5%), whereas the incidence of aura in males in each group was approximately equal (9.8% vs. 7.84%).

Conclusion

Based on our data, we can confirm an association between PTSD and migraine in a sample of patients from Kosovo.