A research on anxiety disorder prevalence and severity among vestibuler migraine and migraine patients

Abstract

In this research, anxiety, depression symptoms and severity were compared between healthy controls (HC), vestibuler migraine (VM) and migraine patients without history of vertigo (MO).

Method

Thirty-five definite vestibuler migraine patients (according to Neuhauser criteria), 35 MO patients and 32 healthy controls were included. All patients were evaluated for their lifetime psychiatric disorders with Structured Clinical Interview for DSM–IV/Clinical version (SCID-I/CV). All three groups evaluated by:

– Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS);

– State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), (STAI-X1) and the other trait anxiety STAI-X2);

– Beck depression inventory (BDI);

– Lifetime Panic Agoraphobic Spectrum Scale (PAS-SR);

– Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PENN);

– Separation Anxiety Symptoms Inventory (SASI);

– Adult Separation Anxiety Questionnaire (ASA).

Psychiatric diagnosis history (SCID-I); comparison of VM and MO did not indicate a significant difference (P < 0.05). VM and MO patients were significantly different than HC in terms of anxiety symptoms in “HAM-A, PENN, ASA, PAS-SR and PAS-SR subscales (P < 0.05)”. VM was significantly different than MO patients in BDE and PAS-SR (overall; separation anxiety, agoraphobia, reassurance seeking) (P < 0.05). The longer the history of migraine the higher was the anxiety points in both in VM and MO patients (P < 0.05). Headache and vertigo severity in VM patients were significantly correlated with the elevated anxiety and depression points (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

VM and MO patients significantly different in anxiety and mood disorder when compared with healthy controls. Our findings showed that VM patients were more vulnerable to psychiatric disorders. For that reason, multidisciplinary approach for the treatment of VM may facilitate the treatment process.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.