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. 2015:2015:797416.
doi: 10.1155/2015/797416. Epub 2015 Oct 25.

Tinnitus and Headache

Berthold Langguth  1 , Verena Hund  1 , Volker Busch  1 , Tim P Jürgens  2 , Jose-Miguel Lainez  3 , Michael Landgrebe  4 , Martin Schecklmann  1
Affiliations

Tinnitus and Headache

Berthold Langguth et al. Biomed Res Int. 2015.

Abstract

Background: Tinnitus and headache are frequent disorders. Here, we aimed to investigate whether the occurrence of headache among tinnitus patients is purely coincidental or whether tinnitus and headache are pathophysiologically linked. We investigated a large sample of patients with tinnitus and headache to estimate prevalence rates of different headache forms, to determine the relationship between tinnitus laterality and headache laterality, and to explore the relationship between tinnitus and headache over time.

Method: Patients who presented at a tertiary referral center because of tinnitus and reported comorbid headache were asked to complete validated questionnaires to determine the prevalence of migraine and tension-type headache and to assess tinnitus severity. In addition, several questions about the relationship between headache and tinnitus were asked.

Results: Datasets of 193 patients with tinnitus and headache were analysed. 44.6% suffered from migraine, 13% from tension-type headache, and 5.7% from both. Headache laterality was significantly related to tinnitus laterality and in the majority of patients fluctuations in symptom severity of tinnitus and headache were interrelated.

Conclusion: These findings suggest a significant relationship between tinnitus and headache laterality and symptom interaction over time and argue against a purely coincidental cooccurrence of tinnitus and headache. Both disorders may be linked by common pathophysiological mechanisms.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Data flow diagram of the questionnaire survey.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Prevalence rates of patients with headache laterality depending on tinnitus laterality (displayed as percent of all patients with a given tinnitus laterality). In all nonunilateral, left-sided, and right-sided tinnitus, the corresponding headache types were more frequently encountered.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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