Comorbidity in Migraine with Functional Somatic Syndromes, Psychiatric Disorders and Inflammatory Diseases: A Matter of Central Sensitization?

ABSTRACT

To approach the questions as to why migraine appears to be associated with functional somatic syndromes (FSSs) and whether central sensitization may be an underlying mechanism, the present study investigated (a) comorbidity with diagnoses of three FSSs, three psychiatric disorders, and three inflammatory diseases, (b) degree of mental health problems (stress, burnout, anxiety, depression and somatization), and (c) prevalence of ten cognitive/affective and nine airway symptoms in persons with migraine in the general population. From a randomized and stratified Swedish adult sample, questionnaire data were analyzed from 151 individuals with a diagnosis of migraine and 3,255 without migraine. The results showed (a) significant comorbidity in migraine with all FSSs, psychiatric disorders and inflammatory diseases, (b) significantly elevated scores on stress, burnout, anxiety, depression, and somatization, and (c) relatively high prevalence rates on almost all symptoms. Taken together, the results motivate future study of central sensitization as a mechanism underlying migraine.

Keywords:

• anxiety
• depression
• inflammatory disease
• somatization
• stress

Funding

This study was supported by grant 2010019-K from the Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association's Research Fund. We gratefully acknowledge Eva Palmquist for valuable help with the database.