CLINIMETRIC ASSESSMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS OF MIGRAINE: A PILOT STUDY

Introduction: migraine has widely been associated with an increased prevalence of psychosocial and mental health difficulties. Objectives: the aim of this pilot study is to assess well-being, distress, disability, perception and beliefs about the state of health and illness, in a group of patients with migraine without aura. Contextually it considers if there are significant differences between patients with episodic migraine and chronic migraine. Methods: a sample of 30 outpatients (15 with episodic migraine, 15 with chronic migraine) underwent the following interviewer-based and self-rated psychometric evaluation: Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorder (SCID; First at al., 1994), Interview for the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR; Porcelli & Sonino, 2007), Psychosocial Index (PSI; Sonino & Fava, 1998), Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS; Stewart et al., 2001), Symptom Questionnaire (SQ; Fava et al., 1983; Kellner, 1987), Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWB; Ryff, 1989), Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ; Broadbent et al., 2006) and Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ; Pilowsky &Spence 1975; Fava et al., 1982). Pearson’s coefficient was used to analyze correlations between psychological and psychosocial variables. Results: chronic migraine patients showed significantly higher levels of migraine disability (MIDAS) (p=0.03), a worse illness perception (B-IPQ) (p=0.00) and higher scores in psychological/somatic perception of illness (IBQ) (p=0.05) compared to episodic migraine patients. Moreover, the majority of patients considers the psychological problems as the main causal factor of their illness, meets the criteria of allostatic load and reports a high prevalence of the DCPR syndromes. The correlations between index of disability, perception of illness, abnormal illness behavior and some psychosomatic syndromes were positive and significant. Conclusions: the results confirm the need to assess migraine within the biopsychosocial model.