AAN 2021 | Depression and anxiety worsen headache-related disability independent of headache frequency

Dawn C. Buse, PhD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY, discusses the effect of psychiatric comorbidities on headache-related disability in patients with migraine, as analyzed in the CaMEO study (Chronic Migraine Epidemiology and Outcomes; NCT01648530). Longitudinal data from over 16,000 patients was used to examine the influence of depression and anxiety on headache-related disability, both common comorbidities in those with migraine. The data showed that anxiety and depression were both more common in patients with chronic migraine compared to episodic migraine. Additionally, both anxiety and depression were associated with significantly increased risks of moderate/severe headache-related disability, independent of headache frequency. The co-occurrence of both comorbidities compounded this association. This interview took place during the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 2021 Annual Meeting.