ComPAIN—Communication of Pain in Patients with Headache

Abstract

Primary headaches are a common debilitating health condition. Proper diagnosis and treatment depend on patients’ communication. We wanted to explore differences in pain communication with a special interest in potential sex differences. Patients visiting our headache unit for the first time filled in two different questionnaires (one before entering the consultation and one directly after finishing the consultation), through which we captured patients’ descriptions of their pain, its potential impact on daily lives, the well-being of our patients and the satisfaction with our consultation. We included a total of 35 patients (22 female, 13 male). Women reported experiencing a greater loss of socially active days during the last 3 months because of headaches compared to men. Furthermore, women were more satisfied with our consultation. In addition, we revealed migraineurs characterize their pain differently than stated in the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3) criteria. The adjective “pressing” (drückend) was used significantly more often by migraineurs compared to patients with tension-type headaches. Nevertheless, in the physicians’ written report, the characterization more often contained the ICHD-3 corresponding adjective “pulsating” (pulsierend). Since the typification of headaches and subsequent therapy depends predominantly on the patients’ communication, consideration of the individual pain description and further research on headache characterization are indispensable.