Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patients with Tension-Type Headache | ||
| Aswan University Medical Journal | ||
| Article 12, Volume 4, Issue 1, June 2024, Pages 125-136 PDF (958.13 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/aumj.2024.274398.1106 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Bastawy M. Al Fawal1; Eman M. Khedr2; Nourelhoda A. Haridy2; Abdelrahman S. Elsoghier* 1; Mohamed Nemr Othman1; Ahmed Abdelwarith1 | ||
| 1Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Aswan University | ||
| 2Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Background: Headaches were overlooked in treatment during the coronavirus "COVID-19" pandemic. This study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on patients with tension headache (TH) and identify predictors of headache worsening. Methods: This cross-sectional study compared TH patients (PwTH) (n=157) to controls without TH (PwoTH) (n=151) during the pandemic. Sociodemographic, clinical, COVID-19-related, depression, and anxiety data were contrasted between groups pre-pandemic and during-pandemic. PwTH was categorized into worsening (WPwTH) and non-worsening (NWPwTH) groups to identify worsening predictors. Results: 66.2% of PwTH were females versus 49.7% of PwoTH (p=0.004). Both groups exhibited significantly increased depression and anxiety levels during versus pre-pandemic, with no intergroup differences. Of 157 PwTH, 125 (79.6%) had WPwTH versus 32 (20.4%) had NWPwTH during pandemic. WPWTH had significantly increased headache frequency versus NWPwTH during the pandemic (P=0.001). Both subgroups had increased anxiety and depression, but WPWTH had significantly higher increase in anxiety (P=0.03). Regression analysis revealed that family COVID-19 exposure, healthcare visits, and increased anxiety significantly predicted TTH worsening. Conclusions: This study revealed that a substantial percentage of TTH patients worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Family COVID-19 exposure, healthcare visits, and increased anxiety predicted worsening TTH. Managing these factors during stress may avoid TTH worsening. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Anxiety; COVID-19; depression; Tension headache frequency; Worsening | ||
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