Muscle discrimination ability at three muscle sites in three headache groups.
The present study examined the ability of three headache groups (migraine, mixed migraine/tension, and tension) to accurately discriminate subjective levels of muscle tension at the forearm flexor, frontalis, and trapezius muscle sites. Discrimination ability was assessed at pre- and posttreatment using a psychophysical method of magnitude production. Results show that the ability to discriminate muscle tension levels at pretreatment varied across the headache groups, with migraineurs being the most accurate (r = .854), followed by the mixed headache group (r = .785), and finally the tension headache group (r = .732). Discrimination ability significantly increased at the posttreatment assessment. A multiple regression analysis showed that pretreatment performance on the muscle discrimination task significantly predicted outcome (r = .75) from relaxation and biofeedback training for migraine patients but not for the mixed or tension headache groups.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001415:Back; D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005542:Forearm; D005546:Forehead; D006261:Headache / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007699:Kinesthesis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D012064:Relaxation Therapy