A comparative analysis of personality profile and muscle tenderness between chronic migraine and chronic tension-type headache

Abstract This study was aimed at comparing the personality profile, the psychiatric comorbidity (depression and anxiety) and the tenderness of the pericranial and cervical muscles in women with chronic migraine (CM) and chronic tension-type headache (CTTH). Forty-one CM and 34 CTTH women were enrolled. A clinical evaluation (according to SCID-I) and a psychometric assessment (MMPI-2, STAI-1 and STAI-2) were performed. After palpation, a Pericranial muscle Tenderness Score (PTS) and a Cervical Muscle Tenderness Score (CTS) were calculated. No significant difference was detected in MMPI-2, STAI-1, STAI-2, PTS and CTS scores between the two groups. Anxiety and depression were present in 80% of CM and in 63% of CTTH women. We did not find any significant difference either in the personality profile or in the muscle tenderness between CM and CTTH patients. This similarity points to a role of these factors, in association with psychiatric comorbidity, in the chronicisation of headache.