Avoidance behaviour is significantly linked to migraine related disability, therefore ii should be considered as an additional target of migraine therapy.
According to a recently published observational study in the Journal of Headache and Pain, exclusion of changes in avoidance or endurance behaviour is associated with improved headache frequency and functional ability. Avoidance and endurance behaviour affects chronic musculoskeletal pain significantly, but its impact on migraine was still not clear. A total of 128 migraineurs were assessed for Migraine Disability Assessment Scale (MIDAS), Avoidance-Endurance Questionnaire behavioural subscales, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and Pain Disability Index (PDI). Sixty-nine out of 128 participants were re-evaluated after 3–6 months.
There was a positive association
between pain-related disability and avoidance, particularly the
social avoidance behaviour at the baseline. The negative association
between PDI scores and endurance behaviour was not able to sustain
multiple regression analysis. Besides, HADS anxiety score and
endurance exhibited a negative relation, and HADS depression score
and social avoidance showed a positive relationship. Avoidance and
endurance exhibited no association with the diagnosis of episodic vs
chronic migraine, headache frequency and intensity. Following the 3
to 6 months post-treatment, a significant improvement was noticed in
headache intensity, frequency, and pain-related disability; whereas
avoidance and endurance remained were consistent.
These findings explain that unaltered avoidance or endurance behaviour shows improvement in headache frequency and pain-related disability.
The Journal of Headache and Pain
Pain-related avoidance and endurance behaviour in migraine: an observational study.
Ruth Ruscheweyh et al.
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