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CC BY 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2025; 83(04): s00451807716
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1807716
Original Article

Impulsiveness levels among patients with medication-overuse headache accompanying chronic migraine or tension-type headache

Ruken Simsekoglu 
1   Istanbul Göztepe Prof. Dr. Suleyman Yalcın City Hospital, Department of Neurology, Istanbul, Turkey.
,
Nestug Keskin 
1   Istanbul Göztepe Prof. Dr. Suleyman Yalcın City Hospital, Department of Neurology, Istanbul, Turkey.
,
Tugba Cankay 
1   Istanbul Göztepe Prof. Dr. Suleyman Yalcın City Hospital, Department of Neurology, Istanbul, Turkey.
,
Sumeyye Cakmak 
2   University of Health Sciences, Istanbul Bakıroy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
,
Temel Tombul 
› Author Affiliations
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Abstract

Background

Impulsiveness in primary headaches is not well understood.

Objective

To analyze impulsiveness in patients with medication-overuse headache (MOH) and either chronic migraines or chronic tension-type headaches (TTHs).

Methods

This cross-sectional study included 119 participants (96 female) divided into 3 groups: the migraine with MOH (M-O, n = 44, age = 36.6 ± 11.1), the tension-type headache with MOH group (TTH-O, n = 38, age = 42.6 ± 11.8), and the healthy control group (HC, n = 37, age = 36.9 ± 13.1). The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 Short Form (BIS-11 SF), Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck's Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used to assess impulsiveness, depression, anxiety, and sleep quality, respectively.

Results

Impulsiveness levels were significantly higher in the M-O (p < 0.01) and TTH-O (p < 0.01) groups compared with the HC. However, no significant difference in impulsiveness was found between the M-O and TTH-O (p > 0.05). The PSQI scores were significantly higher in the M-O and TTH-O compared with the HC (p < 0.01). Additionally, anxiety scores were notably higher in the M-O compared with both the TTH-O and HC (p < 0.01).

Conclusion

The present study, which compared the M-O and TTH-O groups with HC in terms of impulsiveness, with no significant differences in parameters such as age, gender, schooling, frequency of headache attacks, and disease onset duration, concluded that both patient groups exhibited higher impulsiveness compared with the controls. Furthermore, the lack of difference in impulsiveness between MO and chronic TTH-O patients with a common denominator of MOH suggests that it may be associated with MOH, which is a shared subset of two distinct headache disorders.

Keywords

Migraine Disorders - Tension-Type Headache - Impulsive Behavior - Headache Disorders, Secondary

Authors' Contributions

RS: conceptualization, formal analysis, and validation; RS and NK: data curation and writing – original draft; RS, TC, SC, NK, TT: methodology; RS TT: writing – review & editing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.


Editor-in-Chief: Hélio A. G. Teive.


Associate Editor: Pedro Augusto Sampaio Rocha Filho.




Publication History

Received: 29 October 2024

Accepted: 05 January 2025

Article published online:
13 May 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Bibliographical Record
Ruken Simsekoglu, Nestug Keskin, Tugba Cankay, Sumeyye Cakmak, Temel Tombul. Impulsiveness levels among patients with medication-overuse headache accompanying chronic migraine or tension-type headache. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2025; 83: s00451807716.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1807716
 

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