The contribution of pain-related anxiety to disability from headache

J Behav Med. 2006 Feb;29(1):61-7. doi: 10.1007/s10865-005-9033-4. Epub 2006 Jan 6.

Abstract

Disability associated with headache cannot be fully accounted for by pain intensity and headache frequency. As such, a variety of cognitive and affective factors have been identified to help explain headache-related disability beyond that accounted for by pain levels. Pain-related anxiety, a multidimensional construct, also has been found to contribute to disability in headache sufferers. What is not known is whether pain-related anxiety is unique in contributing to disability beyond the role of headache-specific cognitive factors and emotional distress. The present study examines the influence of pain-related anxiety on disability, after controlling for pain, cognitive (self-efficacy and locus of control), and affective factors (emotional distress) in a sample of 96 primary headache sufferers. Pain, headache-related control beliefs, and emotional distress accounted for 32%, with locus of control related to health care professionals contributing unique variance. In the full model, with the addition of pain-related anxiety, only pain-related anxiety was a unique predictor of disability. These findings suggest that pain-related anxiety may have a unique and important role in contributing to disability in headache sufferers.

MeSH terms

  • Absenteeism
  • Activities of Daily Living / psychology
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Anxiety / complications*
  • Anxiety / psychology
  • Disability Evaluation*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Internal-External Control
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Migraine Disorders / psychology*
  • Pain / psychology*
  • Pain Measurement
  • Regression Analysis
  • Self Efficacy
  • Sick Role*
  • Stress, Psychological / complications
  • Stress, Psychological / psychology
  • Tension-Type Headache / psychology*