Pain perception and coping in female tension headache sufferers and headache-free controls.
The purpose of this study was to investigate how headache sufferers and headache-free controls differ in their responses to acute pain. Thirty-three women completed the study (15 headache sufferers and 18 controls). The cold pressor was used to induce pain, and a partially inflated blood pressure cuff was used as a nonpainful comparison task. Headache sufferers reported more discomfort during both tasks; however, the 2 groups did not differ in the number of facial expressions of pain displayed during the tasks. Headache sufferers reported a tendency to catastrophize during both tasks; positive coping did not differ between the 2 groups. These results offer evidence that recurrent tension headache sufferers are more sensitive to both painful and nonpainful stimuli and that they cope differently from controls with these physical stressors.
Ukestad
L K
LK
Department of Psychology, North Dakota State University, Fargo 58105, USA.
Wittrock
D A
DA
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009658:North Dakota; D010147:Pain Measurement; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*