Prognostic significance of personality profiles in patients with chronic migraine.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to assess whether the psychological profile may have prognostic significance in chronic migraine patients.


METHODS
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 was used for the psychological assessment of patients with chronic migraine to explore personality traits. Patients with psychiatric disease and medication overuse were excluded. One hundred and two patients completed the study. Migraine-related disability was measured using the Migraine Disability Assessment questionnaire at baseline (T(0)) and again after 2 years (T(1)), during which patients received prophylactic treatment for migraine. At T(1) patients were classified into those exhibiting significant improvement (group 1: scores reduced by at least 50%) and those with unsatisfactory changes in headache-related disability (group 2: scores reduced by less than 50%).


RESULTS
At T(1) 49 patients were in group 1 and 53 in group 2; at T(0), group 1 patients had significantly lower Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 scores in the neurotic (hypochondriasis: P < .01; depression: P < .001; hysteria: P < .01) and schizophrenia (P < .05) scales. None of the other variables studied, ie, age, sex, age at migraine onset, number of years from chronic migraine onset, T(0) Migraine Disability Assessment score, T(0) headache frequency, severity and temporal pattern (continuous vs intermittent) differed significantly between the groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Findings suggest that psychological factors can influence the clinical course of chronic migraine and that psychological evaluation with Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 may be a reliable approach to obtain prognostic data and information for therapy planning in patients with chronic migraine.
Luconi
Roberta
R
Department of Neuroscience, Polytechnic University of Marche, Ancona, Italy.
Bartolini
Marco
M
Taffi
Ruja
R
Vignini
Arianna
A
Mazzanti
Laura
L
Provinciali
Leandro
L
Silvestrini
Mauro
M
D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality; D011379:Prognosis