Table 2 Clinical characteristics of subjects with tension-type headache according to the standard criteria and the alternative criteria
Subjects with tension-type headache according to the standard criteria, N = 586, N (%) | Subjects with tension-type headache according to the alternative criteria, N = 238, N (%) | P-valuea | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Headache characteristics | Bilateral location | 383 (65.4) | 189 (79.8) | <0.001 |
Non-pulsating quality | 235 (40.1) | 127 (53.1) | 0.001 | |
Mild-to-moderate pain intensity | 576 (98.1) | 235 (98.7) | 0.540 | |
Non-aggravation by movement | 463 (78.9) | 234 (98.3) | <0.001 | |
Associated symptoms | Nausea | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
Vomiting | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | ||
Photophobia | 48 (8.1) | 0 (0.0) | <0.001 | |
Phonophobia | 190 (32.6) | 0 (0.0) | <0.001 | |
Osmophobia | 99 (17.0) | 15 (6.3) | <0.001 | |
Infrequent episodic TTH | <1 headache day per month | 335 (57.2) | 158 (66.4) | 0.014 |
Frequent episodic TTH | 1-14 headache days per month | 235 (40.1) | 71 (29.8) | 0.006 |
Chronic TTH | ≥15 headache days per month | 16 (2.7) | 9 (3.8) | 0.418 |
Headache severity | Visual analogue score (VAS) | 4.4 ± 1.8 | 4.1 ± 1.9 | 0.079 |
Impact of headache | HIT-6 score | 43.9 ± 6.5 | 42.6 ± 6.2 | 0.006 |
Medication-overuse headache | 3 (0.5) | 1 (0.4) | 0.864 | |
Psychiatric comorbidity | Anxiety | 55 (9.3) | 13 (5.4) | 0.064 |
Depression | 110 (18.7) | 36 (15.1) | 0.216 |