title: Alexithymia in chronic and episodic migraine: a comparative study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alexithymia is a term used to describe a disorder where patients have difficulty in expressing their own feelings in words.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The analysis of alexithymia in patients suffering from chronic migraine (CM) or episodic migraine (EM) compared to healthy controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two clinical samples formed by 80 CM patients (21 males and 59 females, mean age: 44.65) and 44 EM patients (8 males and 36 females, mean age: 42.18) were enrolled. A group of 67 healthy subjects served as controls (26 males and 41 females, mean age: 41.21). All subjects were requested to fill in the 20-item version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found a statistically significant difference between groups in Factor 1 (difficulty in describing feelings), F(2, 191) = 7.96, p < 0.001, and in TAS total, F(2, 191) = 5.37, p = 0.005. Post-hoc analyses revealed that CM patients had higher scores in TAS factor 1 and in TAS total than healthy controls. There were no significant differences between CM and EM patients, even if CM sufferers reported a trend towards higher scores in each TAS factor as well as in TAS total.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Alexithymia emerges as a potential characteristic trait of migraine, regardless of disease severity.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Sciences , University of Milan , Milan , Italy.|b Headache Science Center, National Neurological Institute C. Mondino , Pavia , Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Galli
authors.affiliation: c Faculty of Psychology , Vita-Salute San Raffaele University , Milan , Italy , and.
authors.forename: Marcella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caputi
authors.affiliation: b Headache Science Center, National Neurological Institute C. Mondino , Pavia , Italy.
authors.forename: Grazia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sances
authors.affiliation: a Department of Health Sciences , University of Milan , Milan , Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vegni
authors.affiliation: b Headache Science Center, National Neurological Institute C. Mondino , Pavia , Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bottiroli
authors.affiliation: b Headache Science Center, National Neurological Institute C. Mondino , Pavia , Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nappi
authors.affiliation: b Headache Science Center, National Neurological Institute C. Mondino , Pavia , Italy.|d Department of Brain and Behavioral Science , University of Pavia , Pavia , Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tassorelli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alexithymia; chronic headache; headache; migraine