Prevalence of depressive symptoms and its correlates in primary headache patients with a history of head-neck trauma

Objectives: To explore depression and its associated factors in a sample of primary headache patients with a history of head-neck trauma (Ph-nT).

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 120 conveniently sampled patients at Al Madinah Al Munawarah hospitals, Saudi Arabia during the period of June 2019 to December 2019 with Primary headache and history of head-neck trauma completed the depression subscale of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), and a structured tool for demographics and clinical characteristics.

Results: Prevalence of moderate to extremely severe levels of depression was 15.8%. The majority of Ph-nT were female (64.2%), had migraine (with/without aura) (57.5%), recorded no sports-related activities (65.8%), and complained of insufficient sleep (67.5%). Primary headache patients with a history of head-neck trauma, and a family history of migraine/chronic headache, had higher depression scores (β=1.77, p=0.02).

Conclusion: Prevalence of depressive symptoms is higher in a sample of primary headache patients with a history of head-neck trauma than in the population that did not experience that trauma. Identification of predictors of depression in primary headache patients with a history of head-neck trauma may help in evolving targeted prevention and screening programs.