Integrating Migraine, Depression Treatment Can Benefit Patients

Pain symptoms and depression are often linked and previous reports have suggested shared genetic mechanisms between major depressive disorder (MDD) and migraine. A recent study investigated the associations of migraine with pain symptoms among outpatients with MDD during a 10-year period, finding that migraine treatment should be integrated into treatment for depression to improve patients’ pain symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

The study, published in The Journal of Headache and Pain, included 290 outpatients with MDD at baseline. The patients also had follow-up at 6 months, 2 years, and 10 years. The researchers used the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision, for the diagnoses of MDD and anxiety comorbidities, while migraine was diagnosed using the International Classification of Headache Disorders.

“Nearly half of patients with MDD have comorbid migraine. MDD patients with migraine have greater severities of depression, anxiety, and pain symptoms than those without migraine,” noted the researchers.

Click to continue reading on The American Journal of Managed Care.