title: Psychosocial and behavioral characteristics in chronic headache patients: support for a continuum and dual-diagnostic approach.
abstract: The present study attempted to identify psychological differences among different headache diagnoses defined by IHS criteria as well as psychological differences by headache intensity and frequency. Differences between diagnostic categories reflected characteristics used to assign diagnoses, namely the constancy of pain and distracting behaviors of significant others due to isolating behavior from photophobia and phonophobia. A rating of headache intensity and frequency was a more powerful predictor of psychological ratings than diagnosis. Diagnosis was related to headache frequency but not intensity. The results suggest that a continuum diagnosis based on severity can be useful in conceptualizing headaches, and a dual-diagnostic system integrating headache characteristics with perceptions and coping ability would be helpful in determining treatment options.
authors.affiliation: Pain Evaluation and Treatment Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Scharff
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Turk
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Marcus
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001519:Behavior; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012931:Social Environment