Chronic migraine with and without chronic insomnia

Introduction . Identification of the characteristics of patients with chronic migraine (CM) and comorbid chronic insomnia (CI) can improve the quality of management for such patients. Aim. To compare the socio-demographic and clinical-psychological characteristics of patients with CM combined with and without CI, assess the relationship between insomnia and clinical-psychological characteristics in this category of patients. Materials and methods . The study included 200 patients with CM combined with and without CI (63 men and 137 women, mean age 33.1 ± 7.1 years), who were divided into Group 1 (96 patients with CM and CI) and Group 2 (104 patients with CM without CI). All patients underwent clinical interviews, testing, neurological and somatic examinations. Results . There were significantly (p < 0.05) fewer patients who were married, more often divorced and had drug-induced headache and neck pain in Group 1 as compared to Group 2. The frequency of intake and number of doses of pain medications (PM), personal anxiety, depression, rumination, insomnia severity, PM dependence, emotion-focused coping, and pericranial muscle soreness were significantly higher in Group 1 compared to Group 2, whereas adherence to treatment was significantly lower. Insomnia has been shown to correlate significantly positive with the frequency of intake and number of doses of PMs, personal anxiety, depression, rumination, PM dependence, emotion-focused coping, pericranial muscle soreness, and negative correlation with treatment adherence. Conclusion. In CM, a positive correlation was established between insomnia and the frequency of intake and number of doses of PM, PM dependence, personal anxiety, depression, rumination, emotion-focused coping, pericranial muscle soreness, and a negative correlation between insomnia and treatment adherence, which should be taken into account when managing patients.