Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patients with Tension-Type Headache

Al Fawal, Bastawy M.; Khedr, Eman M.; Haridy, Nourelhoda A.; Elsoghier, Abdelrahman S.; Othman, Mohamed Nemr; Abdelwarith, Ahmed

doi:10.21608/aumj.2024.274398.1106

	Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patients with Tension-Type Headache
Aswan University Medical Journal
Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 11 March 2024
Document Type: Original Article
DOI: 10.21608/aumj.2024.274398.1106
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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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