• D K Ziegler and A M Paolo.
• Department of Neurology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City 66160-7314, USA.
• Headache. 1996 Sep 1; 36 (8): 476-80.

ObjectiveTo compare the self-reported disability of headache sufferers who seek medical assistance with those who do not seek such help and determine possible relationships between perceived disability and psychological factors.MethodSubjects were 51 headache patients and 53 persons without medical assistance for their headache within the past 2 years. All subjects completed a structured interview that gathered headache data, a headache disability scale, and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Revised (MMPI-2).DesignA 2 x 2 ANCOVA design was employed. Subject group (patient vs control) was the first factor and headache type (migraine vs mixed) was the second. Covariates were headache intensity and five subscales of the MMPI-2. Dependent variables were the seven subscales of the headache disability scale. Stepwise discriminant analysis was conducted to determine which factors best classified subjects as patients or controls.SettingUniversity Medical Center headache clinic.ResultsClinic patients reported significantly greater disability on their occupation than controls--a difference emerging after controlling for level of headache pain and personality variables. Patients differed from controls, although not significantly, in the rank order of life activities most affected by headache. Discriminant analysis revealed that self-reported disability for occupation and the Hysteria scale from the MMPI-2 best differentiated the groups.

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