Photophobia in primary headaches, in essential blepharospasm and in major depression

Abstract

Objectives: Although photophobia is a well-known symptom in various disorders, it has rarely been studied explicitly and its definition in a clinical setting can be somewhat elusive. Here, we assessed photophobia with a common psychometric tool in different conditions, in which light intolerance is considered part of the syndrome. Patients and methods: A prospective study was undertaken in patients with migraine (MH), cluster headache (CH), tension-type headache (TH), essential blepharospasm (BS) and major depression (MD). Photophobia was assessed by the photophobia questionnaire (range 0–8). Symptom severity was measured in each patient group with appropriate scales. Finally, depression was assessed explicitly in each condition. Results: Hundred and six subjects met the inclusion criteria (MH: 27, CH: 21, TH: 20, BS: 18, MD: 20). Photophobia scores differed between patient groups, with migraineurs showing the highest (6.63) and TH patients the lowest (2.10) scores (ranking: MH, BS, CH, MD and TH). Symptom severity as well as depression had little, if any, influence on the degree of photophobia. Discussion: Photophobia is a core symptom of migraine but also constitutes a feature of other neurological conditions. The relative independence from other, disease-specific features, suggests that photophobia is a rather autonomous symptom.

KEYWORDS:

• photophobia
• migraine
• cluster headache
• tension-type headache
• blepharospasm
• depression

Declaration of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.