Depressive symptoms and anxiety in patients with chronic and episodic tension-type headache

BACKGROUND: Tension-type headache (TTH) is recognized as the most prevalent type of headache. Despite this, there is a limited understanding of the entity's physiology, epidemiology, and clinical presentation. Anxiety and depression are recognized comorbidities present among patients with TTH. OBJECTIVE: To quantify the prevalence of anxiety and depression among patients with episodic and chronic TTH. METHOD: fifty patients with episodic TTH and fifty patients with chronic TTH completed Beck's anxiety and depression surveys. Only patients presenting with moderate to severe scores were considered. RESULTS: among the patients with episodic TTH, anxiety and depression were observed in 30 (60%) and 16 (32%) patients respectively. Among the patients with chronic TTH, anxiety was observed in 22 (44%) patients, and depression was observed in 20 (40%). CONCLUSION: both comorbidities are important among patients with episodic and chronic TTH. Neglecting this association may result in failure of symptomatic and prophylactic treatment ultimately leading to lost quality of life.