• Almudena López-López, GonzálezJoséJLDepartment of Medicine and Surgery, Psychology, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Rey Juan Carlos University, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain., Ángel L Guerrero, Carlos M Ordás, Irene Muñoz, and María Cuadrado.
• Department of Medicine and Surgery, Psychology, Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Rey Juan Carlos University, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain.
• Pain Med. 2017 Jan 1; 18 (1): 152-160.

ObjectiveThe aim of the present work is to analyze certain psychological features in a group of patients diagnosed with Epicrania fugax (EF; that has been recently included in the appendix of the International Classification of Headache Disorders, third edition, beta version), as well as their association with diverse demographic and clinical characteristics of the sample.DesignCase-control.MethodPerceived Stress Scale (PSS), Stress Coping (COPE), Big Five Personality Traits (NEO-FFI), Depression (BDI-II), and Trait Anxiety (STAI) were evaluated in 23 patients with EF and 23 matched healthy controls. Differences between EF patients and controls were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Differences in psychological features as a function of the demographic and clinical characteristics were examined using one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Mann-Whitney U test, or Pearson's correlations.ResultsThe two groups differed significantly from each other in Denial, Trait anxiety, and Depression. Low-frequency epicrania patients scored significantly higher than controls in Perceived stress, Neuroticism, Denial, Self-blame, Trait anxiety, and Depression and higher than high-frequency EF in Venting.ConclusionsThe results initially suggest the absence of substantial differences between patients suffering of EF and healthy controls. On the contrary, low-frequency EF patients show a distinctive "negative (unhealthy) psychological profile," in opposition to high-frequency EF patients. This circumstance highlights the potential need to consider low- frequency EF patients as a target for psychological intervention in combination with the most common medical procedures. Longitudinal studies are necessary to correctly elucidate the influence of these psychological variables on the course of EF.© 2016 American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

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