Premium
Quantitative Assessment of the Tension‐Type Headache and Migraine Severity Continuum
Author(s) -
Schade Auke J.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
headache: the journal of head and face pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.14
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1526-4610
pISSN - 0017-8748
DOI - 10.1046/j.1526-4610.1997.3710646.x
Subject(s) - migraine , physical therapy , tension headache , reliability (semiconductor) , psychology , medicine , clinical psychology , psychiatry , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics
Two quantitative measures for Waters' 1 tension‐type head ache and migraine severity continuum are proposed. To ensure face validity, symptoms and precipitants of this disorder were compiled from the literature as a basis for the Auckland Migraine and Headache Inventory. This inventory was completed by 84 participants (mean age ± SD, 26.0 ± 9.7 years; range, 18 to 59 years) who complied with the criteria of the International Headache Society, for migraine of tension‐type headache. The migraine headache index and the number of precipitants were derived from the Auckland Migraine and Headache Inventory. These scores yielded significant internal reliability ( r s =.77 and .84), test‐retest reliability ( r s =.86 and .74), and concurrent validity ( r s =.57) coefficients. The data, therefore, support the notion that the migraine headache index and the number of precipitants are reliable and valid indices of tension‐type headache and migraine severity, suitable for participant selection and assessment of treatment. This study offers support for Waters'1 suggestion that tension‐type headache and migraine are extremes of a severity continuum.